Butterfly
by Cyberchao X
Summary: It's amazing how drastically the course of history can be altered with just the slightest difference in a single event. In the world of Ace Attorney, the first quarter of the 21st century was shaped by one single moment.
1. A Lucky Shot

Butterfly  
by Cyberchao X

Summary: _It's amazing how drastically the course of history can be altered with just the slightest difference in a single event. In the world of Ace Attorney, the first quarter of the 21_ _st_ _century was shaped by one single moment._

(note: I haven't actually played the _Investigations_ games, so I can't do my usual "direct quotes" thing for what little bit of this is pulled directly from canon before we get to the "what if?" that is basically the idea for this whole thing.)

 **December 23, 2000  
Mansion of Jeffrey Master**

"Hypogeusia? Or is it ageusia? The great Dane Gustavia…a chef who can't even taste!" The sculptor Pierre Hoquet mocked his former partner, angering the chef. "No wonder you need your son to taste all of your creations." In a rage, Gustavia charged at Hoquet, but Hoquet was ready, knocking the larger man into a rock salt lamp. Gustavia began bleeding profusely from the back of his head, falling unconscious. "…Idiot…well, even so, I'd better call for help. Murder's still murder, even if it was justified self-defense, so I can't just leave him here to bleed out." He called the others, explaining what had happened…with some omissions.

Hoquet's statement: "I was walking past Mr. Master's room when I heard someone inside. Since I knew he was having tea with Miss Hall, I looked in, and found Dane attempting to steal the Angel's Recipe. I confronted him on this, and he came at me. I defended myself, shoving him down, and he hit his head on the rock lamp. I immediately went for help." All true statements—well, actually the first thing he did was check to make sure Gustavia was only unconscious, rather than dead, but other than that it was all true; however, Gustavia had attacked not merely because Hoquet had called him on his potential theft, but also because the two men had previously been collaborating and Hoquet ended the partnership at the finals, wanting to claim the grand prize all for himself. Furthermore, since Gustavia's injury had caused the contest to be canceled, he had gone to fetch his son, Horace, from the car where he'd been instructed to tie up Gustavia's son Simon, since the extra measure of precaution to sabotage Gustavia was no longer needed. He apologized to both Simon and Horace for what he'd done. Simon, however, refused to accept the apology.

When he came to in the hospital, Dane Gustavia decided to file assault charges against Pierre Hoquet. Hoquet hired Gregory Edgeworth as his defense attorney.

 **December 24, 2000  
Edgeworth Law Offices**

Gregory Edgeworth listened to the details of the case as told by Hoquet. "Well, it's not going to be an easy case, seeing as how there are no witnesses either way and the legal system favors the prosecution. However, reading over the charges that Mr. Gustavia is pressing, something sounds fishy on his side as well. I think a 'justified self-defense' plea is your best bet…but the prosecution would have to accept such a plea, and unfortunately, this case has been assigned to Manfred von Karma. Anything less than a full conviction will likely be unacceptable to him."

"von Karma?" remarked Edgeworth's young assistant, Raymond Shields. "That's going to be tough…but I have faith in your abilities."

"Yeah. At least this isn't a murder case, so we can actually put the victim on the stand."

"It should be noted that only Gustavia had a motive for trying to steal the Angel's Recipe," Hoquet offered.

"Do you have proof of that that we can submit in court?"

"The Angel's Recipe wasn't a recipe at all, but a cure for hypogeusia and ageusia. Everyone entered in that contest knew that."

"They did?"

"Indeed. Delicia Scones wasn't even a chef, but a pharmacist."

"And for what reason were you entered in the contest? You don't seem to be a chef either, Mr. Hoquet."

"Ah…well, yes, I was only in it for the money I could get by selling the Angel's Recipe if I had won. But I most certainly would have won! For I have the aesthetic sense to be able to sculpt such ingredients into a masterwork."

"'Such ingredients?'"

"…Admittedly, Dane had every reason to be angry at me. We were in fact secretly working as a team; he, as the master chef, would assemble the ingredients, and I, as the sculptor, would assemble them into sculptures. Once we'd both made the finals, however…since my job was the one that happened last, I…double-crossed him, leaving him on his own for creating his finals sculpture. Nevertheless…I would've never dreamed he'd _attack_ me."

Raymond cut in, "If he were a bit smarter, he'd have just outed you as a fraud during the contest."

"No, Raymond, he would've disqualified himself as well, since he had been part of the collaboration."

"Still would've screwed Hoquet over."

"You're not thinking logically. Gustavia needed that prize. …Well, I'm taking the case. I'm not sure where it'll go—von Karma's so prideful that he might not accept a deal, but he's also clever enough to realize that Gustavia is the one who had motive to attack Hoquet, not the other way around."

* * *

CCX: So the initial blow to Gustavia's head knocks him out, thereby preventing him from clubbing Hoquet to death with a rock lamp, so instead of IS-7, we get Edgeworth and von Karma squaring off on a "mere" assault case. Furthermore, Horace and Simon didn't get frozen in a car. I wonder…what will the domino effect be?

Also, hooray 100th story! Except really it's more because there have been ones that I've taken down of my own accord, plus one fic that was originally uploaded as three separate fics and the site took the two "sequels" down but left the first one alone for me to repost the sequels as chapters of it. Until next time, this is Cyberchao X, signing off.


	2. Trial Part 1

Butterfly  
by Cyberchao X

Summary: _It's amazing how drastically the course of history can be altered with just the slightest difference in a single event. In the world of Ace Attorney, the first quarter of the 21_ _st_ _century was shaped by one single moment._

CCX: I've realized that one of the events I'd been hoping to see changed may have actually occurred prior to December 2000, so I'll have to get creative. But it's for the best that it didn't happen, anyway, because then we'd be out a great character.

…You won't see the fruits of this decision in this chapter, though.

 **December 25, 2000  
9:00 AM  
Courtroom #2**

"Court is now in session for the assault of Dane Gustavia. The accused is Pierre Hoquet, also known as 'Isaac Dover'. Is the defense ready?"

"Ready, your Honor, and willing to make a plea."

"Your client is willing to plead guilty?"

"But of course he is," boomed the prosecutor, Manfred von Karma. "To do anything else would just prolong his suffering."

"The _plea_ ," Gregory Edgeworth replied, "is justified self-defense."

"'Justified self-defense' is a plea to be entered in a _murder_ case. Your client was at least fortunate enough that his intended victim survived. If you plead guilty to assault, I won't push for attempted murder."

"Attempted murder?!" Hoquet burst out.

"Quiet! You'll get your chance once you're on the witness stand," Edgeworth told him.

"I was told that 'assault' was the charge being filed," the Judge said. "Is that not correct?"

"Given the amount of blood loss suffered by the plaintiff, along with…certain other circumstances…the police are now calling this an attempted murder."

"Very well then. Will the prosecution call its first witness?"

"Of course. The prosecution calls the plaintiff, Dane Gustavia, to the stand."

* * *

 **The Incident**

"Hoquet and I had been collaborating on the contest; my talents as a chef and his talents as a sculptor. Just before the finals, he informed me that he was reneging on our deal. I needed the prize, so I went to Master's room and attempted to get a copy of the Angel's Recipe. Hoquet caught me and threatened to expose my secret if I didn't buy his silence. I made to leave, but Hoquet was blocking the exit. When I tried to rush past him, he threw me headfirst into the rock lamp."

 **Cross-Examination**

"Just before the finals, he informed me that he was reneging on our deal."

"HOLD IT! 'Reneging' how?"

"He refused to sculpt my entry from the materials I provided, after having already sculpted his own."

…

"I needed the prize, so I went to Master's room and attempted to get a copy of the Angel's Recipe."

"HOLD IT! 'Needed' the prize? Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're already a very wealthy master chef, are you not?"

"I am. The 'Angel's Recipe' is not in fact a recipe in the culinary sense. I have a non-fatal illness, and the Angel's Recipe is actually a recipe for a cure for this illness."

"OBJECTION! If it's non-fatal, then you don't _need_ to cure it!"

"OBJECTION!" Manfred boomed back. "The nature of this disease has been revealed to me out of necessity to try this case, but it would be very detrimental to his career if word got out about it."

(…Right. His inability to taste. Better leave this line of questioning for the moment.)

"Hoquet caught me and threatened to expose my secret if I didn't buy his silence."

"HOLD IT! Wouldn't revealing your secret also prevent him from winning the grand prize?"

"…"

"Or was your collaboration, entirely against the rules of the contest, not the 'secret' to which you were referring?"

"…It was not. I would rather not have this secret in an official court record, but the secret was the reason I needed the Recipe."

"…The disease."

"…"

"I made to leave, but Hoquet was blocking the exit."

"HOLD IT! And so what did you do then?"

"I planned to push him out of the way. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm both larger and more muscular than Mr. Hoquet. I could've easily merely shoved him to the ground and gone right past him."

"That sounds like a good reason for him to think he needed to defend himself."

"…That's why Mr. von Karma was reluctant to try this case as mere assault. By exerting potentially lethal force when I had done no such thing, his reaction becomes criminal."

"…"

"When I tried to rush past him, he threw me headfirst into the rock lamp."

"OBJECTION!" Present: Injury Report. "If you had been thrown 'head-first' into the rock lamp, you would've been injured in the front of your head!"

"OBJECTION! That's mere semantics! He suffered a single blow, to the head. Logic follows that his head was the first _and only_ thing to hit that lamp!"

"Objection overruled. Mr. Gustavia's testimony stands."

"…Very well then, Mr. Gustavia. I have one question. What motive would my client have for attempting to kill you?"

 **The Motive**

"His motive was nothing more than greed. As long as I had those pictures, I had nothing to lose. I could've revealed our collaborative fraud and gotten us both disqualified. I told him that the money he'd get from his victory should be payment enough for his silence. I even offered to turn in the other cheater in the competition so he'd have no competition for the top prize."

"Other cheater? So there's someone else with motive for this crime?" the Judge asked.

The courtroom was filled with stunned silence. "I think you've been on too many murder cases, Your Honor," Gregory Edgeworth finally managed. "While this is the first I'm hearing that there was a third cheater in the competition, there is no doubt that the altercation occurred between my client and the plaintiff; the only thing to be determined is whether or not my client committed a crime in doing so."

"Uh, yes, of course, I knew that."

 **Cross-Examination**

"His motive was nothing more than greed."

"HOLD IT! That's just speculative!"

"OBJECTION! The witness has already testified to the defendant attempting to elicit a bribe. Furthermore he has also testified that the defendant was not even a chef, yet he entered a cooking tournament under a pseudonym in order to obtain the valuable grand prize."

"Ob-objection upheld."

"As long as I had those pictures, I had nothing to lose."

"HOLD IT! What 'pictures' are you referring to."

"As stated previously, my interest in the Angel's Recipe was only a specific portion, pertaining to the cure for my disease. I took photographs of that portion when it became clear that I would not win the contest. Naturally, Hoquet took the photographs after he attacked me, since the competition would be canceled."

"Is this true?"

"The police confiscated the camera and photographs as evidence after the charges were filed," Manfred von Karma stated.

Camera added to Court Record.

Angel's Recipe Photographs added to Court Record.

"The defense requests that this statement be added to the witness's testimony."

"Witness, please amend your testimony."

…

"I could've revealed our collaborative fraud and gotten us both disqualified."

"HOLD IT! Why would you willingly get yourself disqualified?"

"I no longer felt I could win if Hoquet remained in the contest, and I no longer needed to win because I had what I needed. Yes, my reputation might take a slight hit if I revealed myself as a cheater, but the talent that I lacked that Hoquet brought to our partnership was not one that I would need on an everyday basis, and if anything revealing that _my_ culinary skills had been responsible for not one but two of the contest finalists could bring me even more renown."

"I told him that the money he'd get from his victory should be payment enough for his silence."

"HOLD IT! There was no cash prize for this contest!"

"No, there wasn't. But the prize was worth a lot of money. Hoquet's motive for entering the contest was to profit off the sale of the Angel's Recipe."

"Can this be confirmed?" Edgeworth asked.

"It can," confirmed the prosecutor. Angel's Recipe added to Court Record.

"I even offered to turn in the other cheater in the competition so he'd have no competition for the top prize."

"HOLD IT! Who was this 'other cheater'?"

"Delicia Scones, who wasn't really a chef. Her works were in fact created using inedible materials, which violated the contest's rules."

"How do you know she wasn't really a chef?"

"She lacked even basic knowledge, such as the temperature to keep cream at."

"What was her real reason for entering?"

"I know not. Perhaps she just wanted to sample the other contestants' works."

"Hoquet took the photographs after he attacked me, since the competition would be canceled."

"OBJECTION!" Present: Angel's Recipe Photographs. "I hardly think that these photographs would've been sufficient to satisfy the motive you've provided."

"Well, Mr. Edgeworth? Do go on. How is this a contradiction?"

Present: Angel's Recipe. "This is the _entire_ Angel's Recipe. The prize that Pierre Hoquet was after. The camera only contained photographs of a fraction of this prize. And the witness has already stated that had the competition continued without incident, my client would've likely won. Therefore, he has no motive for potentially stopping the competition!"

"OBJECTION! The witness has stated that he would've revealed the deception. The defendant needed to silence him!"

"OBJECTION! The witness had stolen part of the Angel's Recipe, and my client knew this. The only way that the witness would've been able to get away with his crime would've been to remain silent! …Unless, of course, _he_ silenced my client."

"But he didn't," the Judge pointed out. "The only one who was injured was the witness, Mr. Gustavia."

"Yes, because my client defended himself. But I maintain that the witness was the one who attacked my client, not the other way around."

"…Objection sustained." Manfred von Karma growled in anger at this. This defense attorney had actually successfully stood up to him. But it wouldn't last, of course. "Any further questions for this witness?"

"The defense has no further questions for this witness."

"The prosecution may call its next witness."

"HOLD IT! The prosecution is not finished with this witness."

"…It isn't?" Raymond Shields asked.

"Perhaps the witness would like to elaborate on why he was so certain that the defendant would win the competition if it had continued uninterrupted."

Dane Gustavia looked nervous. "…O-of course."

 **Hoquet's Competition to Lose**

"As per our partnership, I prepared the ingredients, and Hoquet sculpted them. Lacking any aesthetic sense of my own, I would not have been able to defeat him, since in theory our entries should've tasted the same. Hoquet also knew of Ms. Scones' cheating and would've revealed her if she'd somehow won. Jeffrey Master was also competing, but as the host who already possessed the Angel's Recipe, the prize would still be up for grabs had he won."

(CCX: I always thought it was weird that he had been competing in his own contest.)

"Would the defense like to cross-examine this statement?"

"Of course I will."

 **Cross-Examination**

"Jeffrey Master was also competing, but as the host who already possessed the Angel's Recipe, the prize would still be up for grabs had he won."

"HOLD IT! Why was he competing in his own contest?"

"He said he wanted to bequeath the Angel's Recipe to 'someone he respected'. Had no one been able to defeat him in this contest, he would've merely held another one until he found a suitable heir."

"…But having already ended his partnership with you, my client wouldn't have stood a chance if the contest had been re-run."

"…Forgive me. That was merely an assumption. There was also the possibility that the prize would go to the runner-up had Master won the competition."

"I move that this statement be struck from the record."

"OBJECTION! The witness has stated why _each_ of the other contestants was not a threat to the defendant's chances of victory."

"Objection sustained."

"Lacking any aesthetic sense of my own, I would not have been able to defeat him, since in theory our entries should've tasted the same."

"HOLD IT! 'In theory'? Was there a chance that they wouldn't?"

"…"

"Does the defense have evidence to support this claim?" von Karma asked.

(I don't want to be the one to present this…) "…Seeing as how this testimony actually strengthens the defense's case, I see no reason to challenge it."

"I see. You want to make me the 'bad guy', presenting the evidence that the plaintiff so clearly wants to avoid. Well, unfortunately, I _don't_ care if I have to anger him a bit; he'll recover from any damage this revelation may do to his reputation." von Karma presents the Angel's Recipe Photographs.

"The pictures? Prosecutor von Karma, this evidence already _has_ been presented!"

"Only in the context of it being 'a' part of the Angel's Recipe. Pay attention to exactly _what_ portion was being photographed."

"…Hypogeusia? Ageusia?"

"The partial and complete ability to taste, respectively. A chef without the ability to taste would be a laughingstock."

"Then how was he able to do his job at all?"

"His son, Simon, assisted him as a taste-tester. While the renown that would come with winning such a contest would certainly be an asset, Mr. Gustavia's primary motive for entering this competition was to obtain a cure for this condition before anyone found out. I would ask that this portion of the court record be sealed and kept confidential following the conclusion of this trial."

"OBJECTION! Relevance?"

"Patience, defense attorney. At the time of the finals, Simon Gustavia was…incapacitated. If you have no further questions for his father, I would like to call him as my next witness."

"OBJECTION! I was not informed of this witness, and especially given the witness's young age, I would at the very least like to ask the court for a recess to prepare."

"The defense's request is granted. The court will take a 10-minute recess."

* * *

 **December 25, 2000  
10:14 AM  
Courtroom Lobby**

"Mr. Hoquet, exactly what reason might the prosecution have for calling a six-year-old to the witness stand?"

"…As the prosecutor stated, Simon tasted his father's dishes. Since I had access to Dane's dish, I very easily could've sabotaged him further had Simon been absent. I had my own son, Horace, restrain Simon, though I did not actually sabotage Dane's ingredients."

"…Then why did you restrain Simon?"

"…Recall, if you will, that I was unaware of Dane's inability to taste until just before our altercation. I knew that Simon was helping his father out somehow, but I thought Dane was only using his son as a taste-tester to double-check that it would be well-received."

"…So then you wouldn't have actually thought to sabotage Mr. Gustavia until _after_ the altercation. Hmm…while your actions certainly don't paint you in a positive light, I think we can use Simon's absence to strengthen our case. After all, once you'd learned of his condition, you would've been able to outright sabotage him."

"…Actually, since I had already ended our partnership when he went to take the photos, I no longer had access to his ingredients."

"…We'll still make it work. One last thing. Yesterday, you told me that Delicia Scones was a pharmacist. Gustavia knew that she was a fraud as a chef, but didn't know this fact. How is that?"

"…Gustavia lied when he said that I already knew of Scones' cheating. He was the one who mentioned it, just before our confrontation, and I questioned Ms. Scones on that matter while he was recovering in the hospital. She confirmed that she had been sent by the Master Group to try to retrieve the Angel's Recipe."

"'Master Group'?"

"Jeffrey Master was the heir to a pharmaceutical corporation. That's how he acquired the Angel's Recipe in the first place."

"…We're about to return to court. This is going to be tough, cross-examining a six-year-old…von Karma really is ruthless."

* * *

CCX: It's never really stated what Simon and Horace's names were prior to being locked in that car; they were sent to an orphanage and received new names, hence their last names not matching their fathers'. For ease, I'm going to assume for this story that they were able to remember their real first names, and thus, their first names are unchanged.

Also, I originally planned to have the defense call Hoquet to the stand prior to Simon taking the stand and have him eventually forced to reveal what he'd done, but couldn't quite make it work out. Also, it wasn't in character to have von Karma allow the defense a witness of their own prior to exhausting all of his trump cards.


	3. Trial Part 2

Butterfly  
by Cyberchao X

Summary: _It's amazing how drastically the course of history can be altered with just the slightest difference in a single event. In the world of Ace Attorney, the first quarter of the 21_ _st_ _century was shaped by one single moment._

CCX: To anyone who read Chapter 2 before this was posted, I made some corrections.

 **December 25, 2000  
10:24 AM  
Courtroom #2**

"Court will now resume for the trial of Pierre Hoquet for the assault of Dane Gustavia," the Judge intoned.

"Attempted murder," corrected Manfred von Karma.

"Er, yes, and attempted murder."

"And the kidnapping of Simon Gustavia."

"Another charge?"

"Your Honor, the charge was filed prior to the start of the trial. It should be in your briefing."

The Judge checked the papers he'd received. "Ah, yes, here it is."

"OBJECTION! I did not learn of this alleged kidnapping until just before this last recess."

"You could have your client plead guilty to the kidnapping right now," von Karma suggested.

"Let me consult my client on this." A pause. "My client is willing to plead guilty to the kidnapping under the condition that the details of the kidnapping be left out of the proceedings for the assault and attempted murder charges."

Manfred von Karma shook his finger. "That won't do. This testimony is very important to proving that this was attempted murder and not merely assault."

"Objection! We haven't even proven that it _was_ assault yet!"

"To be clear, Mr. Edgeworth, exactly what is it that you're objecting to?" the Judge asked.

"Prosecutor von Karma's statement is prejudicial! I still intend to prove that this wasn't assault!"

"Objection sustained. Prosecutor von Karma, call your witness."

"Very well. The prosecution calls Simon Gustavia to the stand."

* * *

Simon looked frightened. "Simon, could you please tell the court a little about how you help your father?"

"I don't want to! You're scary-looking!"

Manfred von Karma scowled for a moment, but quickly recovered. "…I'm sorry, I don't think I can do anything about the way I look. Mr. Gustavia, if you would please help?"

"Wow," Raymond said to Gregory, "it's like he's a completely different person."

"Even the god of prosecution has a soft spot for young children. Though I've heard he's a demanding father once they get past a certain age."

"Simon, it's okay. Tell them about how you help me."

"But you said that was supposed to be a secret."

"…The secret's already out."

Simon nodded.

 **Helping Out Daddy**

"Daddy is losing his sense of taste, so he lets me try out his new dishes to see if they taste good."

"…Was that all?" Gregory asked. "That's not exactly new information."

"Okay, now, tell them about what happened two days ago."

 **Horace's Dad and My Dad**

"Horace's dad and my dad were working together in the contest. Horace's dad was fine with me being there early on, but then he said I couldn't be there for the final round. When I didn't want to go, he told Horace to tie me up to keep me away. Horace said he was sorry and didn't want to, but he had to do what his dad wanted."

 **Cross-Examination**

"Horace's dad and my dad were working together in the contest."

"HOLD IT! Now, when you say 'Horace's dad', you're referring to…"

Simon pointed at Pierre Hoquet. "That man right there. Horace is a friend of mine from school."

"Horace's dad was fine with me being there early on, but then he said I couldn't be there for the final round."

"HOLD IT! Why would he have been okay with it earlier, but not for the finals?"

"I don't know. I was surprised, too."

"When I didn't want to go, he told Horace to tie me up to keep me away."

"HOLD IT! So then you were tied up when your father got hurt?"

"Yeah." Simon nodded. "Horace was in the car, too."

"…Car? You didn't mention a car."

"Horace's dad took us over to his car and put me inside, and Horace tied me up and locked the doors from the inside."

"The defense requests that this statement be added to the witness's testimony."

Simon looked confused, unsure what Gregory had just said. The Judge approved his request.

"Horace said he was sorry and didn't want to, but he had to do what his dad wanted."

"HOLD IT! Had Horace ever said anything about his dad being scary when mad?"

"I don't think so. Why?"

"Yes, why indeed?" Manfred von Karma asked.

"You tell me, Prosecutor. As I recall, this is _your_ character witness, since it's been established that he didn't actually witness any crime other than his own kidnapping. Unless you'd like to recant your statement that this is a very important witness to your attempted murder case?"

"The prosecution will do no such thing. Get on with this charade already."

"Horace's dad took us over to his car and put me inside, and Horace tied me up and locked the doors from the inside."

"HOLD IT! So then who was it who set you free?"

"That was Horace's dad, too. He set me free and apologized, but I didn't think he was really sorry."

"Objection; opinion that should not be taken into account."

"Upheld," said the judge, and even von Karma couldn't argue that.

"Do you know why he set you free when he was the one who had you tied up to begin with?"

"He said there was no longer any need to keep me there."

Simultaneously, both von Karma and Edgeworth asked that this statement be added to the witness's testimony. Since they were obviously in agreement that this was important, the Judge immediately did so.

"Later, Horace's dad said there was no longer any need to keep me there and set me free."

"HOLD IT! So then there was a need before?"

Simon nodded. "He didn't want me helping my dad out anymore."

"OBJECTION!" Present: Angel's Recipe Photographs. "It's already been established that my client didn't learn the real reason that your father wanted to win the contest until just before they fought, when your father was taking pictures of the Angel's Recipe. Therefore, his reason for getting you out of the way couldn't have been because he knew your father couldn't win without you."

Manfred von Karma looked smug. "And so then what _was_ that reason?"

"…"

"To make sure that there was no one else around when he attacked Mr. Gustavia."

"OBJECTION! However, he _did_ learn of Mr. Gustavia's condition before they fought. With Simon out of the way, Mr. Gustavia _didn't_ have any chance of victory. There would've been no need for my client to attack him! …Whereas Mr. Gustavia would've had plenty of motive to attack my client."

"OBJECTION! The defendant was motivated by greed. Not knowing the true reason that Gustavia wanted to win, he broke off the collaboration because he didn't want to split the money earned by selling the Angel's Recipe. He probably just figured that Gustavia was planning to photograph the entire thing."

"OBJECTION! Again, speculative!"

"Objection upheld."

"… The defense has no more questions at this time."

"The prosecution is done with this witness as well. We feel we have done enough to establish the type of man that Mr. Hoquet really is. Your verdict, your Honor?"

"OBJECTION! The defense would like to call a witness!"

"OBJECTION! Witnesses are called by the prosecution!"

"OBJECTION! And the only witness you've called that actually saw the altercation is the plaintiff himself! There are no corroborating witnesses! Therefore, the defendant has the right to tell his side of the story!"

"…As irregular as it may be, I'll allow it."

"…The prosecution requests a recess to prepare for this."

"You have 5 minutes."

* * *

 **December 25, 2000  
10:49 AM  
Courtroom Lobby**

"So why were you willing to plead guilty to the kidnapping in order to keep Simon off the stand?"

"…Do you have any children, Mr. Edgeworth?"

"I do. My son, Miles, is 8 years old."

"Then you should know that a parent will go to any lengths to protect their child."

"…Right; Simon's testimony makes your son an accomplice, doesn't it?" Raymond said.

"Indeed."

"Well, you're going to get your chance to tell your story now," Gregory Edgeworth said. "Hopefully it'll be enough to prove that you were the one who was attacked." _(Justifiable though it probably was.)_

* * *

 **December 25, 2000  
10:54 AM  
Courtroom #2**

"Court will now resume for the trial of Pierre Hoquet for the assault and attempted murder of Dane Gustavia and the kidnapping of Simon Gustavia. The accused will be taking the stand."

 **What Really Happened**

"I enlisted Dane Gustavia's culinary abilities to help me win the Angel's Recipe with the intent of selling it. I had always planned on double-crossing him in the finals. I didn't know his reason for wanting the Angel's Recipe until I saw him photographing the pages regarding his condition. I told him I'd keep quiet about his thievery if he didn't expose me as a fraud chef, but he no longer trusted me and attacked me."

"OBJECTION!" boomed the prosecutor.

"I know you don't have much experience cross-examining witnesses, but that's not how it works," Edgeworth said.

"I'm saving time. The only statement I have a problem with is the final one. If the only price he had to pay for your silence on both his condition and his illegal photographing of the Angel's Recipe was to keep his own mouth shut, he'd have no reason to attack you."

"OBJECTION! My client had knowledge of the plaintiff's condition, one which would've meant he could've easily sabotaged the plaintiff even further."

"OBJECTION!" two voices rang out.

"Witnesses are not allowed to object, and besides, that's _your_ lawyer!" the Judge addressed Hoquet. "Prosecutor, your objection?"

"My objection is that the sabotage would've been pointless, as the defendant had already all but secured victory due to the plaintiff's lack of aesthetics."

"HOLD IT! There were still other contestants!"

"OBJECTION! Hoquet knew that Delicia Scones was also a cheater!"

"OBJECTION! But Jeffrey Master wasn't, and my client would never have been able to win a second competition if Master had won the first one because he'd already betrayed Gustavia's trust!"

"…Witness. I take it by your outburst that you had further testimony you wanted to give?"

Hoquet nodded. "More and more with every supposition you two make."

 **The Lawyers Don't Have the Facts Straight**

"I couldn't have sabotaged Dane's sherbet even if I wanted to. Each contestant had their own room in which to work, and once I'd severed our partnership, I no longer had access to Dane's. I didn't know about his condition until after that time. Furthermore, I only learned that Delicia Scones was a fraud when Dane was trying to bargain with me."

 **Cross-Examination**

"Each contestant had their own room in which to work, and once I'd severed our partnership, I no longer had access to Dane's."

"OBJECTION!" Present: Injury Report. "This 'altercation', as the defense prefers to call it, occurred in the Spring Palace, one of the four rooms being used for displaying the finals entries. Specifically…Jeffrey Master's entry for the finals."

"…We were all to use Master's entry as a baseline. As the host, he wasn't concerned about winning, merely setting a guideline for the other entrants to aspire to beat. Therefore, his door was left open."

"…"

"…"

"…Go on with your testimony!"

"Isn't the procedure generally for the witness to craft a new testimony when their last one has been picked apart?" the Judge asked.

"I'm not done with this one yet," von Karma replied.

"Furthermore, I only learned that Delicia Scones was a fraud when Dane was trying to bargain with me."

"OBJECTION!" Present: Gustavia's Testimony. "So then, you are confirming that you tried to extort money from Mr. Gustavia."

"I beg your pardon?"

"In his testimony earlier, Gustavia mentioned offering to turn in the other cheater in the contest so you'd have no competition, as part of his attempt to bargain with you as to the cost of your silence. While he also later alleged that you already knew of Ms. Scones' deceit, I figure that you would've turned her in yourself had this been true, and so…I am inclined to believe his earlier testimony regarding your extortion attempt."

"…Nothing gets past you, Mr. Prosecutor. Except, of course, for the fact that my attempt at extortion only gives _Dane_ a motive for attacking _me_."

"Your motive is that he was willing to get you disqualified from the competition rather than paying your bribe."

"He wouldn't dare. I'd have revealed both his condition _and_ that he'd tried to steal the cure, and he'd have been left with a destroyed reputation _and_ no cure. To get his cure, he'd need my silence. And he chose to try to get it through violence rather than bribery."

"Bah! Either way, you're just adding to your list of crimes."

"If you're quite finished, Mr. von Karma, I believe I'm ready to render my verdict," the Judge interjected.

"The prosecution is ready for the verdict."

"The defense is also ready."

"HOLD IT!"

"That will no longer be necessary," von Karma said. "I'm…no longer convinced that it is in the court's best interest to file that."

"Sir?"

"I believe the police were overreaching. Judge, the verdict?"

"Er, yes. On the charge of assault, this court finds the defendant, Pierre Hoquet, Guilty. On the charge of kidnapping, this court finds the defendant, Pierre Hoquet, Guilty. On the charge of attempted murder, the court finds the defendant, Pierre Hoquet, Not Guilty."

"…Wait, what?"

"Don't look so surprised," von Karma said. "After all, that charge had never _formally_ been entered. I do believe I said at the beginning of this trial that I wasn't going to push for attempted murder, as well as that the _police_ were the ones calling it an attempted murder. While the amount of blood lost certainly was sufficient to believe that Mr. Gustavia would've died if left untreated, the fact of the matter is that he only received such prompt treatment because Mr. Hoquet himself immediately called for help."

"And yet you're still willing to call that assault?!" Raymond Shields burst out.

"Quiet, you. Of course. I believe that Mr. Hoquet had every intention of knocking Mr. Gustavia unconscious, but when his very first strike proved potentially fatal, he had no choice but to call for help, as murder was never his intent."

"Objection! That contradicts what Mr. Gustavia said on the stand!"

"…An unfortunate miscommunication. It was the police who were pushing for attempted murder. I was willing to go along with it if enough evidence could be found to support it, but I had doubted the viability of that charge from the very start—and rightly so."

(That sounds like revisionist history to maintain his precious perfect record…but at least these charges are mild enough.)

"Furthermore, the prosecutor's office will decline to charge Horace Hoquet as an accomplice to the kidnapping. Given his young age, he was merely following a parent's orders despite his misgivings, and for that, we cannot condemn him to a juvenile detention center."

* * *

 **December 28, 2001  
2:00 PM  
Hoquet Residence**

RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!

"W-W-what was that?!" Horace asked.

"I think it was an earthquake," replied Miles Edgeworth. "I think I can remember the positions of the pieces if you want to continue."

"No, we'll start over. You were winning by quite a bit anyway. You always do."

"…Do I really?"

Horace, his mother, and Miles's father all agreed, "Yes, you do."

The Hoquet residence was outside the range of the blackout caused by the earthquake, so the two young boys were immediately able to begin another game of chess. Gregory Edgeworth was happy that he'd found a friend for Miles that was close to the boy's own age, as he'd worried that Miles was trying to grow up too quickly—although he had to admit that chess was an awfully high-level pursuit for a pair of grade-schoolers to bond over. Over at the courthouse, when the earthquake hit, Manfred von Karma had just left the building after yet another perfect case. A court bailiff named Yanni Yogi had been stuck inside an elevator when the power went off, but as he was alone in the elevator, there was enough oxygen to last him the entire 5 hours until the power returned despite his panicking, though he was by all accounts a bit delirious when he finally escaped.

* * *

CCX: And thus was the DL-6 Incident prevented. After all, while Manfred von Karma is still an evil man, his crime was one of opportunity—and here, he didn't have the opportunity, as Edgeworth wasn't working a case when the earthquake hit thanks to IS-7 being averted. The ripple effects of this will be…vast.


	4. The Amateur Detective

Butterfly  
by Cyberchao X

Summary: _It's amazing how drastically the course of history can be altered with just the slightest difference in a single event. In the world of Ace Attorney, the first quarter of the 21_ _st_ _century was shaped by one single moment._

CCX: I'm sort of making up an "exact date" for this next one, since the games don't actually provide one and what little data I can gather seems to be contradictory—usually when they refer to something happening "X years ago", it's practically to the day (at least in the original trilogy; beyond that you have "the events of seven years ago" spanning the length of an entire game), but not only does the Ace Attorney Wiki _not_ have an exact date assigned to this background case, the calendar year it _does_ have doesn't even match up with what a to-the-day interpretation of "X years ago" would give you, suggesting that we have to add another few months…and frankly, I feel like that works better anyway.

Also, full disclosure: I finished this chapter off before starting on the previous one. So, yeah, we're on a new plot thread, made possible by the prevention of DL-6.

* * *

 **September 27, 2007  
11:04 AM  
Kurain Village**

"Mia, is something wrong? You seem sad," Maya Fey asked her older sister.

"I'm not sad, I'm just…thinking. Mother says that she's taking us to Hazakura Temple so that I can undergo spiritual training, but…I don't have the spiritual power to withstand any of their training programs and she knows it. Even as young as you are, your powers are probably more developed than mine."

"So? You're not excited to see another part of the world?"

"It may not be our village, but it's still a Kurain temple. It's not really like we're seeing the outside world that you've been dreaming about."

"You want to see the world beyond our home, too," Maya pointed out.

"Yeah…" Now Mia Fey _did_ look sad. "Now that I'm 18, I really _should_ be out in the world, learning how to live a life beyond what this village's traditions have to offer."

"But Mia, you're the first-born daughter of the Master of the Kurain tradition," their mother, the Master in question, cut in. "You are supposed to be the heir to the family line."

"Just like the first-born daughter of the previous Master?" Mia pointed out acidly. "Aunt Morgan actually had dreams of _becoming_ that Master; surely you can see how bitter she is that the elders chose to give you the position instead. I'd rather make it easy on everyone and just _let_ Maya inherit your title uncontested."

"Don't be too hasty," Misty said. "Spiritual power can sometimes lay dormant in one generation only to manifest again in the next one, and while I can appreciate your feelings for your sister, I don't plan on going anywhere any time soon. For all you know, the next Master after me could be _your_ daughter."

"I'd be fine with that," Maya said. "I don't want to stay in this silly village all my life, either."

Mia sighed. Her mother had a point; she had assumed the best way to prevent any conflict like the one she saw between her mother and aunt would just be to give the right of inheritance to Maya, but at the moment, Maya was just a child who wanted freedom, and might resent her for "burdening her" with that responsibility. There was plenty of time to figure that out.

* * *

 **2:00 PM  
Hazakura Temple**

"Master Misty? Here for the Ultimate Course? Or perhaps Mystic Mia requires training?" The ebullient head nun of the temple, Sister Bikini, asked.

"Something like that. Perhaps we could get something to eat first?"

"But of course! Sister Iris? We have very important guests!"

 _Iris? Wasn't that…_

"Here you are…oh! Master Misty! I-I'm honored to make your acquaintance. My name is Sister Iris…"

"Sister Iris. You…remind me of someone close to me. Do you, by chance, have a last name?"

"A-A last name? Ah, well…Sister Bikini found me abandoned here as a little girl, so she's really the only family I have…so I guess not."

Misty Fey turned to her elder daughter expectantly. "Mia, what do you think of this?"

Mia seemed shaken. "I'm…not sure. What am I seeing?"

"Psyche-Locks, I'd imagine. How many are there?"

"Three. Why am I seeing them?"

"That would be the magatama I gave you this morning. It lets you see when people are concealing something in their hearts. Sister Iris…have you really had no contact with your true family?"

"Sister Bikini is my true family. If you mean my parents and siblings, I have no clue who they are."

"'Siblings'?" Mia asked. "If you don't know who your parents are, how would you know if you have siblings?"

Iris looked shaken. "Oops!" One of the Psyche-Locks broke. "I wasn't being entirely honest. I have vague memories of being left here…I had a father and a sister. But I don't know who my mother is. I don't know where my father and sister are, though."

"But you know their names, somehow," Mia said.

"I think she's spoken to at least one of them more recently than she claims," Misty said. "Your sister…would her name, by chance, be Dahlia Hawthorne?"

Another Psyche-Lock broke. "H-how did you know that, Master Misty?" Iris asked.

"Because…I know your parents. In fact, I've known your mother my entire life."

"Wait…you don't mean?" Mia asked.

Misty nodded. "Her name is Morgan Fey. She's my older sister. Her first husband left her when she was passed over for the position of Master of the Kurain Channeling Technique…taking their two-year-old twin daughters, Dahlia and Iris, with him. But it's strange…" Misty trailed off, and suddenly, Mia was seeing more Psyche-Locks than she was before. This was because _Misty_ now had a pair of Psyche-Locks.

"What's strange?" Mia asked.

"Well, why would he take both girls, only to leave Iris here, in the care of another branch member of the Fey family?"

"…There's something you're not telling me."

"Is there now?"

"M-Maybe he didn't mean to," Iris offered weakly. "We might've gotten separated somehow…"

"You don't believe that," Mia said. "But…Mother, you said you 'know' her parents. You used the present tense to refer to them collectively before you said how long you've known Aunt Morgan. But…Aunt Morgan hasn't had any contact with her first husband since he left her."

"I didn't want to say that I 'knew' her parents when I just saw her mother earlier this morning. Don't read too much into it."

"I don't think so," Mia said, shaking her head. "You spoke to him recently."

A Psyche-Lock broke. "Very good. Yes, he contacted me recently… wanting me to attempt a channeling."

"'Attempt'? But Mommy, there's no way you'd ever fail at a channeling!" Maya said.

"Unless…the person she was trying to channel was still alive."

"Correct. Now who do you think he wanted me to 'try' to channel?"

"Was it me?" Iris asked hopefully.

"No," Mia said, having figured everything out. "It was Dahlia, wasn't it?"

"It was." Misty's other Psyche-Lock broke. "Recently, Dahlia was kidnapped and held for ransom. He wanted proof that she was really alive, so when he received the ransom note, he called me."

"So then…he couldn't care less about me," Iris seemed sad for a moment, then gained an odd surge of resolve. "Well, thank you, Master Misty. I have to get going now."

"Oh? Where to?"

"…I can't say."

"Perhaps you have business down by the river?"

"Eagle River? No one ever gets too close to that river; it's too dangerous! Besides, it takes a long time to get down to the river's edge safely, since it's such a large drop from the bridge."

"Yes, but you don't actually need to be down there until roughly 4 PM. When the exchange is due to take place."

"W-w-what do you mean?"

"The ransom. The exchange is supposed to take place today. A 2 million dollar diamond, for Dahlia Hawthorne's safe return. It's supposed to take place on Dusky Bridge. But you already knew that, right?"

Iris's last Psyche-Lock broke, and she started crying. "Dahlia contacted me recently. She and her stepsister Valerie hatched a plan to swindle our father. Dahlia's tutor was going to pretend to kidnap her, and the three of them would split the value of the diamond. But Dahlia didn't want to split the money…so she was planning to fake her death and steal the diamond away. My job was to make sure she survives the drop. …I'm worried about her, but…I no longer have any doubts about wanting to hurt my father."

"I don't know why he left you here, but…he mentioned you, when we talked. That's the real reason I'm here. While I don't think he suspected that your stepsister would be part of the con as well, he remembered that Dusky Bridge goes to this temple…the place where he and Dahlia left you. When he saw that location for the exchange…he got suspicious. He obviously wants to believe in her, or else he wouldn't have asked me to try to channel her, but he at least wondered if she had planned her own kidnapping."

"Even so…I can't stop her. All I can do is try to keep her from dying because of her crazy plan."

"Then let's go."

* * *

 **4:05 PM  
Eagle River's Edge**

Misty Fey waded into the fast-moving river. "Wait, what are you doing?" Iris asked.

"That's what spiritual training can do for you," Sister Bikini said. "Master Misty has trained under waterfalls flowing every bit as fast as this river. But it's no easy task, even for one as powerful as the master." Fighting to stay stable, she grabbed her niece as she was swept down the river and brought her ashore.

"Who are you—Iris? I said you couldn't tell anyone!"

"Such anger. You certainly do take after your mother in _that_ respect."

"My _'mother'_? Who do you think you are? Anyway, that woman is _not_ my mother."

"You mean your father's current wife? No, she isn't. My older sister is. Your father was worried about you…he wanted me to make sure you were okay. Come, now, we don't want to be late."

"Late for what?"

* * *

 **4:10 PM  
Dusky Bridge**

"What's going on here?! I heard something like a gunshot."

"Stay back, ma'am. This is a dangerous criminal," replied Valerie Hawthorne. "He kidnapped my younger sister and then killed her when I gave him the ransom."

"Wait, gave him the ransom? But you're a police officer…right?"

"Yes. Perhaps he should've picked an easier target, but then again, our father _is_ rich."

"…I'm sorry for your loss, Officer…"

"Hawthorne. Valerie Hawthorne."

"Officer Hawthorne. I'm Mia Fey, an acolyte of the Kurain tradition practiced at this temple."

"Temple?"

"Over there." Mia pointed it out.

"Ah. Well, Miss Fey, I must be going; backup should be here any minute and this criminal needs to be dealt with."

"You know, you look awfully young to be a police officer. You can't be any older than me, can you?"

"I haven't been an officer for long. I'm sorry, I really must be going."

"…Take care."

* * *

 **4:35 PM  
Hazakura Main Gate**

"So I gave him the diamond, and then he shoved Dahlia off of the bridge, into the river. I shot him in the shoulder, but it was too late. Dahlia was gone."

"That's odd. Dusky Bridge has guard rails. It wouldn't be easy to just shove someone off."

"…Miss Fey?"

"Oh, don't mind me. I'm not a witness to the crime itself. I came from the temple when I heard the gunshot."

"…You say that, but I find that you seem awfully interested."

"I mean what I say. I'm no one you need to worry about." She grinned. "These are the Feys you should be worried about."

"D-Dahlia? You're alive!" Valerie raced to hug her stepsister, then became confused. "And there's…two of you? Except for the hair color…"

"Dahlia!" Terry interjected. "Ugh…"

"This whole kidnapping was bogus," Misty informed the other police officers. "The 'victim' here planned the whole thing…including faking her own death. Iris, her twin sister, was to help rescue her."

"Twin sister? Officer Hawthorne?"

"Lies. Both my stepsister and I were only children before our parents married."

"…It's not working?" Mia seemed confused.

"It only works if a person is knowingly lying," Misty explained. "Obviously Officer Hawthorne was honestly unaware of Iris's existence."

"What are you talking about?" an officer asked.

"Spiritual stuff. Nothing that would be admissible in court, so pay us no mind on that matter. What matters is that this man is no murderer, and probably not even a kidnapper. He is, however, guilty of theft…even if his partners were going to double-cross him."

"Partner _ **s**_?" Valerie asked. "You mean Dahlia and Iris?"

"I mean Dahlia and _you_. Iris was brought in as well, but only to rescue Dahlia after the double-cross had been completed."

"This woman, whoever she is, is lying! I know nothing of my stepsister having any twin sister, and I certainly would not have signed off on any plan that involved Dahlia jumping off of Dusky Bridge!"

"Jumping off? Earlier you said she was pushed," Mia pointed out.

"She _was_ pushed! That's what I was saying!"

"…She actually believes that."

"Why wouldn't she? After all…her only job was to double-cross the tutor. Jumping off the Dusky Bridge was entirely Dahlia's idea," Misty said.

"For someone who claims to be my family, you're sure being really rude to me," Dahlia said.

"They're a bunch of nut jobs. I think that last statement can completely discredit them."

"If you're so sure, do a DNA test. Even you acknowledge the resemblance between Dahlia and Iris. It's no coincidence. …Dahlia convinced you to shoot this man, so that you'd only have to split the money two ways instead of three. But then she decided to use that diversion to get away and take the diamond all for herself. It should still be in her backpack," Misty said.

"…Prove them wrong, Dahlia. Empty your backpack."

"…I don't want to. They have no right!"

"Dahlia…" Valerie said.

"…Fine." She emptied her backpack. The diamond wasn't there. Dahlia hesitated briefly, but recovered before anyone noticed her shock. "See? No diamond. Terry still has it!"

"No! You had it! We were going to split the money, all three of us, until she shot me!" Terry protested.

"Did Mr. Fawles still have the diamond when you arrested him?" an officer asked Valerie.

She shook her head. "He did not. I checked, since I wanted to return it."

" _Wanted to keep the money for yourself, more likely,"_ Mia thought. "So then that means that you do not, at the moment, have the diamond in your possession?"

" _You_ are not a detective, Miss Fey, and I just said that Fawles didn't have it. When else would I have acquired it?"

"When you embraced Dahlia, perhaps?" Mia suggested.

"…" She demonstrated that she did not have the diamond. "Satisfied, Miss Fey?"

"No. I still think you're a disgrace to your profession."

"Maybe the diamond wasn't secured, and it washed away when Dahlia jumped into the river," Iris suggested.

"…Maybe. Or maybe you have it? You have also been named as an accomplice in this plot, Miss…"

"Iris. Just Iris." She thought about this for a moment. "But I suppose I wouldn't mind if you called me Iris Fey."

"Well, Miss Fey?"

"I have nothing to hide." She removed her loose-fitting outer robes, since they could easily be used to conceal the diamond. "Are you satisfied?"

"Yes. I guess the diamond really was lost. We'll be going now…and Officer Hawthorne, I expect you'll have a lot of paperwork to be filling out." The policemen left along with Terry Fawles (in custody), Valerie, and Dahlia.

"They're not going to do anything about one of their own being corrupt?" Mia asked.

"I'm sure they will. But, sadly, not as much as I'm sure you'd want them to. You do have a very strong idealistic streak, my dear."

"Is that so wrong?"

"Not at all. That's why I gave you the Magatama before we arrived here."

"But what about Mr. Fawles? He's probably still going to get all the blame for the kidnapping, and without the diamond as evidence, Dahlia and Valerie will go free!"

"…The world is not always just. But at least they didn't get to reap the benefits of their treachery…and since the diamond was never recovered, Mr. Hawthorne still takes a financial hit. I'm sure insurance will repay him _something_ , but…I should hope it's less than the actual value. Otherwise one might suspect _him_ of being in on the con."

"Can you find out?" Iris asked.

"I'd rather stay out of this mess from here on in. It was nice to meet you, Iris."

"The pleasure was all mine, Master Misty! …I mean, Aunt Misty." Misty chuckled.

"Cousin Iris…if I might ask you one question before we go?"

"Yes, Cousin Mia?"

"Were you concerned about the value of the insurance reimbursement because you don't want your father to be suspected of criminal activity, or because you don't want him to be able to benefit from this?"

"…The latter, of course. Knowing that he remembers me makes it even worse that he's never come to see me again. Actually, before you go, I have a question for you."

"Yes?"

"You kept referring to my father as your aunt's 'first husband'. Do I have any half-siblings?"

Misty replied, "Not yet. But as cold as my sister is, she is bitter about the loss of her children. She seems to want to have another with her current husband."

"Well, if she ever does…Cousin Maya, if your aunt ever has another child, could you please give her the gift I had Sister Bikini give to you?"

"Of course!" Maya said. "Though…it's really heavy."

"Wait, did she..?" Mia started, but her mother stopped her.

"Just let it be, dear. It's probably for the best if you don't pry into this one. I think this is the justice that everyone involved with this situation needs."

"Speaking of those involved…should we tell Aunt Morgan about Iris?"

"Eventually. But now isn't the time. Like I told Iris, Morgan has a new husband now, and I'm afraid Iris's presence could lead to…tension. But that's enough about that. I want to know what you took away from all of this."

"…That the world outside of Kurain is quite ghastly indeed."

"But?"

"…One way or another, the truth will find a way of coming out."

"It just takes the right person searching for it."

"…You were never really against my desire to leave the village, were you, Mother?"

Misty sighed. "Of course I was. You're my daughter, so it's only natural for me to want you to stay. Our village has a strict policy about contact with the outer world, so we would only be able to see each other rarely. But ultimately that's _your_ decision to make, and I already knew what you'd decide. But being so sheltered for so long, I wasn't sure if you'd have any idea what to do once you'd left."

"And so you saw an opportunity for me to try something out to see if it would ignite a spark. I really should be angry at you for trying to influence me like that…but I can't be, because as always, you were absolutely right."

"People naturally desire more power, but that desire leads to wickedness. You've no doubt seen it in Kurain as well, with the branch families constantly plotting to usurp power from the main family."

Mia nodded. "It's why I wanted to forfeit my right of inheritance in the first place. I don't want the position of Master, nor do I want there to be resentment between myself and Maya."

"But those who have power desire more power, too."

"You mean officers of the law, such as the police force."

Misty nodded. "While you'll never survive if you keep that black-or-white worldview of yours, I know that you'll be great at keeping people honest. That's what you want, right?"

"To be a detective? Yeah, I think so."

"Then you should keep that Magatama. It'll run out of power sometimes, so you'll have to charge it. I think that should be within your power, but if not, you can always call on me to help."

* * *

CCX: …Yeah, that happened. That was what I was referring to in Chapter 2's opening A/N. Preventing DL-6 changes a _lot_ of things, but Morgan Fey's first husband leaving her isn't one of them; that happened when Misty was named the Master of Kurain instead of Morgan. (Maybe. It's sort of unclear which was the trigger.) So I had to get creative to figure out why Dahlia's murder spree might not happen as a result of my little butterfly effect. Putting more people at the scene of her faked murder seemed like the best option. It also had the side effect of giving Mia a new goal in life, since without Misty getting discredited by the innocent verdict that Hammond got for Yanni Yogi, she no longer has a reason to want to become a defense attorney. Though honestly that never made sense to me, since "innocent by reason of temporary insanity" suggests to me that it was ruled that Yogi _was_ the killer, but wasn't a murderer; hence, Misty's contribution to the trial wasn't _wrong_ (at least, not until Phoenix proved that it _was_ wrong 15 years later). So now we're going to have Detective Mia Fey. Who uses the Magatama. Hmm…I wonder whose life might be saved by _this_ development.

…And, yeah, I don't know why I was so dodgy as to which event would be covered in this chapter in the opening A/N. Until next time, this is CCX, signing off.


	5. The Dark Side of the Force

Butterfly  
by Cyberchao X

Summary: _It's amazing how drastically the course of history can be altered with just the slightest difference in a single event. In the world of Ace Attorney, the first quarter of the 21_ _st_ _century was shaped by one single moment._

 **February 16, 2013  
9:00 AM  
Criminal Affairs Department**

"Detective Mia Fey, reporting for duty!"

Lana Skye had to hold back a chuckle. "Relax, Mia. It's not like this is your first day on the force."

"Yeah, but…" She trailed off.

"…You want to make a good impression on your first day as a detective. Am I right, Mimi?"

"It's 'Mia', sir."

Damon Gant laughed. "Of course it is."

"Damon likes to give everyone nicknames," Lana explained. "Though he's never given me one."

"Your name doesn't lend itself to making a nickname very easily. Besides…there may come a day when you're _my_ superior, in a manner of speaking."

"Damon, I highly doubt that. You're the deputy chief of the police department; likely to be chief within a couple of years."

"But even the Chief of Police has to answer to the Chief Prosecutor, no? And that's where you're headed, mark my words."

"Someday, maybe. But I'm not even a prosecutor yet, and the chief is usually someone with quite a long tenure."

"Ah, sorry. I suppose I meant Head Prosecutor."

* * *

CCX: It has come to my attention that it is only due to a localization error that Lana Skye was given the same title that was previously held by Blaise Debeste and as of AA5 belongs to Miles Edgeworth. In the original Japanese, her title is different from theirs. I'm going to use the term "Head Prosecutor" for this station.

* * *

"So how does this work, anyway? I figure I'm going to have to be assigned a partner, right?"

"Well, some detectives actually work solo, but yes, you will be. The Chief thinks it would be in everyone's best interest to team you up with Detective Starr, for a…multitude of reasons."

"…'The Cough-Up Queen'? Okay…I've heard she's kind of hard to deal with, but…"

"Well, yes, she is a bit…eccentric. One of the main reasons you're being partnered with her is that she's been chewing up male partners left and right and they think maybe a female partner would do her some good."

"So dismissive. But I'm fine with it; not being tied a male partner frees me up to play the field a bit more."

"Ah, Detective Starr. I'm glad to hear that you're not mad about this."

"I asked the Chief why I was being partnered with some rookie, but…I liked his answer. He didn't mention any concerns about my effect on my old partners, though."

"Just out of curiosity, what _did_ he mention?" Mia asked.

"That you've got a nickname here, too. 'The Human Lie Detector'. You have a knack for knowing when someone's hiding something. Seeing as how my specialty is extracting secrets, having a partner who can see who's hiding them seems…pretty damn useful."

"Huh. When you put it that way, I guess it does seem like a natural fit."

* * *

CCX: …You were expecting something else from that date? Hehe…I suppose it does stretch a bit longer than I expected it to, but there weren't really any good dates I could use from the previous couple of years, especially since the only major case in 2012 already _had_ a freshly promoted detective…not to mention it's not a case that's actually tangibly affected by this butterfly. Obviously it didn't play out _exactly_ the same because Miles Edgeworth was already a budding prosecutor in the "Second KG-8 Incident", but the end result was likely unchanged—Byrne Faraday and Mack Rell were killed by "Calisto Yew", who escaped after being outed as the Yatagarasu.

…Also, because the timeline tends to try to find a way to correct itself, Calisto Yew's shot at the prosecution managed to hit, and Manfred von Karma had to take a vacation afterwards in order to recover. It was a shorter vacation, though, because due to the circumstances under which he got shot, there was no reason to hide the fact that he'd been shot in the shoulder. Because why not? It gives him a reason to keep that shoulder-grabbing animation; the wound still hurts from time to time.

But back to what we're really here for. I was replaying PW1 when I got the idea for this chapter, and I realized that partnering Mia with Angel would just be too awesome. And of course, you know where this chapter is headed, right? Of course you do.

* * *

 **February 19, 2015  
6:00 PM  
Criminal Affairs Department**

"Hey, Maya? I think we're going to be running late here. I'd ask you to swing by the station to wait, but I know how you are with food."

Maya Fey giggled into the phone. "It's fine. I'm sure I won't run out of room by the time you get here. But you've got enough time to call me?"

"Ah, well, _I'm_ not busy at the moment, personally. But Lana's still busy."

"…Wait, wasn't I going to be meeting your partner?"

"No, Lana's not my partner. She's…I guess technically she's my superior, but she's only a couple of years older than me and we actually met in school. She's got a younger sister around your age who will be joining us."

"And your partner?"

"She's already left for the day. I believe she had a date…as usual."

"She's popular with the guys, huh?"

"That she is. But she's a good person. Oh, Ema just showed up now. I'll see you soon." Mia hung up. "Hello, Ema. Lana's still working on a case."

"That's fine. I'll just wait in her office."

"Good idea."

* * *

 **7:10 PM  
Criminal Affairs Department**

"Lana, what's wrong?!"

"Damon just told me that Darke escaped. We're on lockdown." (CCX: Apparently only Gant and Marshall had been in the interrogation room with Darke before the blackout. Seems weird to me.)

"I don't think I'll ever understand that man. He kills one man by accident, then freaks out and kills all witnesses, then turns himself in, but tries to make a break for it?"

"He's obviously insane. Don't think too hard about it."

"…You know Ema's waiting in your office, right?"

"…Let's go."

* * *

 **7:15 PM  
Deputy Chief's Office**

"N-Neil…"

"Um…we can definitely convict him for this one, right?" Mia asked.

"…I certainly hope so. …Darke still had his knife on him. Why didn't they take that from him?"

"…You should stage the crime scene to remove any doubt. Put the tip of Darke's knife in the wound."

"Damon…"

"What are you talking about, sir? If we forge evidence and it gets out, we lose him! We can't let this guy get away like that!"

"Mimi. Think about the situation. Darke had a knife, yet Prosecutor Marshall was killed by impalement upon my suit of armor. Why would that be?"

"There was a struggle, of course. They fought for the knife, and in the shoving, Prosecutor Marshall ended up on the lance."

"…Or, there was an accident. It was pretty dark, and…Neil had a 'knife', too." Lana indicated the King of Prosecutors trophy. "…Neil actually got the upper hand on Darke, but all Ema saw was a man with a knife. In the struggle, she couldn't tell who was who…"

"…No one would convict her. It was an accident…"

"It would still be involuntary manslaughter. Given her age and the circumstances, it'd be…3 years at most, probably even less. But…I can't let that happen. Not when we have a chance to put Darke away for good."

"It's for the best. I'll move the body to your side of the office; you clean up those jar fragments."

"Hmm?" Mia asked.

"The jar. It was next to the armor, and now it's broken all over the floor. Points to the struggle being in that area, and as such, it would point towards Ema being the culprit."

Chains came crashing down, and three Psyche-Locks appeared over the Deputy Chief of Police.

"Damnit, I wish Angel was here right now. Lana, is there anything _else_ that Deputy Chief Gant might've meant by 'clean up those jar fragments'?"

"N-no…"

"…Then why are you cleaning off the individual fragments?"

"…because they have Neil's blood on them." One of Gant's Psyche-Locks broke. "You noticed that too, Damon?"

"Kind of hard to miss."

Mia went over to examine them. "But that's not the only reason they'd lead to Ema, is it? Lana…that doesn't look like random blood spatter."

"No, it doesn't. It looks like writing."

"What type of detective are you? For all we know, that could've actually implicated Darke! Unless…you're already absolutely certain that it would implicate Ema. But…how could that be, when you arrived after us…Deputy Chief Gant?"

"…I suppose I should've checked that more closely. My bad." A second Psyche-Lock broke.

"Yes, well, it all seems very fishy to me. After all…that writing spans multiple pieces, does it not?"

"It does indeed," Lana confirmed.

"Which means…that the message was written when the jar was whole."

"…That it does."

"Which can only mean that the jar wasn't broken during the struggle at all."

"What are you getting at, Mimi?" Damon Gant's voice suddenly took on a slight edge.

"This crime scene was already staged. There's something else that's been bothering me…namely, Prosecutor Marshall's vest."

"…His vest?" Lana asked.

"You didn't notice? There seems to be a piece missing. …Hey, Lana. Do you think you could stop wiping off the jar for a bit and try to reassemble it? The pieces all look pretty big…and with a bit of work, you could probably make it look like new."

"Brilliant, Mimi! Hide the fact that it was ever broken!"

"Not to mention decode the message, assuming it's still visible."

"It might take awhile to set, though. Permission to take the jar home, Damon?" Lana asked.

"Negative. There will be others checking out the crime scene…those who know where the jar belongs. I guess Mimi's plan won't work, since it would look suspicious if we waited to report the crime. Just finish wiping away the blood and leave it for evidence. Since it's nowhere near where the body will be found, it can be pinned off as something that happened earlier in the struggle, before the death occurred on your side of the office."

Mia thought about this. _(Damnit, he's still hiding something…but I can't prove my suspicion without being able to reassemble the jar.)_ "Okay, then. I guess there's nothing we can do about it."

"…You're going to back down about the evidence forgery?"

"It's not worth it. I don't want Ema to go to jail any more than you do."

"…They're going to have to question us. Ema and me both. Mia…you should go. Pretend you were never here, and go see your sister. We'll have to introduce Ema and Maya some other time.

* * *

 **7:57 PM  
Edgeworth Law Offices**

(Three minutes from going home and the phone rings.) "Edgeworth Law Offices, Miles Edgeworth speaking."

"Mr. Edgeworth. I was hoping you'd still be in."

"Who is this?"

"Detective Fey. You were my cousin's defense attorney last year."

"She got convicted. Is that what this is about?"

"No. Dahlia was guilty, so I'm not mad that you couldn't get her off. I value justice above all else…and I sensed that you were of a like mind. Which is why I'd like to ask you to defend another client who is guilty of…a good few murders."

"Miss Fey, I don't think that's the best way to sell a defense attorney on a potential client."

"True. But I believe him to be innocent of the murder that he'll actually be tried for. Actually…I _know_ that the police department is framing him, but I believe that the person who they're trying to 'protect' is _also_ innocent. I…think the deputy chief might have been so desperate to convict Joe Darke that _he_ actually murdered a man in order to frame Darke for it."

"That's a heavy accusation, Miss Fey."

"They'll probably try to cover up the evidence. I'll help you as much as I can."

"You'd be risking your own job if you did that."

Mia grinned. "Yeah, but if I successfully expose corruption in the police department…I figure I'd probably be due a hefty promotion. Not to mention, there's still a fairly good chance that Darke will go down for his murders back in September."

"Marshall's the prosecutor on that case, right?"

"…Neil Marshall is the victim in the case you'd be trying. If you'll accept, that is."

"…That's a shame. The Prosecutor's Office is full of ruthless men with few morals who care only about getting a guilty verdict. Of course, ideally they'd be in the right to do so… if only there were as many detectives as thorough as you. But as I was saying, it's a shame that one of the good ones had to go. Prosecutor Marshall was an honest man."

"Yes, he will be mourned. …Wait, what was that about more detectives like me?"

"Don't be so modest, Miss Fey. You have a reputation for having a pristine conviction rate. No defense attorney wants to try to defend a client when you and Angel Starr are listed as the arresting detectives. Well, not at our offices, anyway; Grossberg's men don't seem to have a problem with it."

"Ah, yes. I once testified in a case matching Robert Hammond against Manfred von Karma. Most distasteful thing I've ever witnessed."

"I would've thought you'd like having von Karma work your cases."

"Well, I'll admit that he's an incentive to work harder. He'll get the suspect convicted whether they're guilty or not, so I'd better make sure I deliver him a suspect who's actually guilty."

Miles Edgeworth chuckled. "Well, I do believe I _am_ working overtime now, so I should get going. Perhaps you can stop by at some time tomorrow?"

"Well, I'll probably need to get a better handle on the evidence myself, so it'd have to be after work. My shift normally ends at 6:00, so I'll come by your office at around quarter after."

"Sounds good. See you tomorrow." He hung up. "Ray, what're you still doing here?"

"I heard you talking. Did you say that was Detective Fey on the phone?"

"…Yeah. She has some misgivings about her colleagues' conduct…or at least, one in particular. She wants me to defend Joe Darke for the murder of Neil Marshall."

"…wait, I thought I was mishearing that part. Neil Marshall's dead?"

"It apparently happened today, at the precinct. They're going to accuse Darke; this should be the one that they finally have the evidence for…except Miss Fey believes that the Deputy Chief was actually the one who killed Marshall, and his only motive was to have a crime that they could easily pin on Darke."

"That's…quite the accusation. And this from a detective? …And wasn't she related to a client whose case you lost?"

Miles shuddered. "That was a rather unnerving case…probably the most unnerved I've ever been when not trying a murder case. I really don't know why I took that case."

"Because Phoenix asked you to," Gregory Edgeworth reminded his son.

"Oh, right. I took on that flirtatious floozy as a client because her twin sister is dating one of my best friends." Miles grumbled. "I really need some better friends."

* * *

CCX: So Dahlia still managed to get herself into legal trouble in 2014, but not murder. Really, though, why would she? She's a lot like Joe Darke, actually, in that most of her crimes were committed to cover up earlier crimes. Since her plot in 2007 was foiled, she had no reason to murder her stepsister, which means she had no reason to have been in the courtroom in 2013 and thus never would've poisoned Diego Armando or tried to kill Phoenix Wright. Maybe she tried her hand at theft again? Oh, and for some reason Iris is actually attending Ivy University as herself, _alongside_ her twin sister…and, what do you know, she ended up falling in love with Phoenix anyway. Until next time, this is CCX, signing off.

…I wasn't originally planning on writing the whole chapter tonight…


	6. Truth was Gone

Butterfly  
by Cyberchao X

Summary: _It's amazing how drastically the course of history can be altered with just the slightest difference in a single event. In the world of Ace Attorney, the first quarter of the 21_ _st_ _century was shaped by one single moment._

 **February 20, 2015  
9:00 AM  
Criminal Affairs Department**

"Things got pretty crazy after you left last night," Mia Fey said to her partner.

"I know. It kind of put a damper on my night, too."

"…Oh. You were with Detective Marshall last night?"

"Yesterday evening, yeah. He…wanted to be alone after he found out. I…suppose it's for the best, but I'm worried about how he'll take it. He acts like a lone wolf, but…I wish I could've been there to comfort him."

"Is that what you're calling it?"

"Shut up. I already referred to 'that'. I was being completely genuine. You'd know if I wasn't, right?"

"…Yeah. You're not actually thinking of toning down your serial dating, are you?"

"…I'm not ready to commit to anything just yet. But I won't deny that Jake's different from the other guys."

"…Anyway, you don't know the half of it." Mia paused nervously, then failed to continue.

"Honey, you've got that look on your face that suspects normally get right before you tell me that they're hiding something."

"I…want to tell you what I know, but…it may be safer for you not to know."

"Don't make me take you to an interrogation room."

"…Follow me."

* * *

 **9:05 AM  
Police Station—Women's Restroom**

"I would've preferred the interrogation room."

"That might draw too much suspicion. Besides, you're not the only one I want to talk to." The door opened. "Good morning, Lana. How was last night?"

"I've made my statement. I was the first to discover the scene, _alone_. Damon arrived after me. Darke and Ema were both unconscious, and Neil was dead, stabbed in the chest."

"…Please tell me that you didn't actually say that. A good defense attorney will jump all over that, because the autopsy will contradict that statement."

"Oh? And how do you know this?" Angel asked.

"Because she wasn't alone. I was with her, though we're concealing that fact…largely because I was less than willing to go along with the cover-up."

"Why are you bringing her in on this?" Lana asked.

"Because she's my partner, and I'm going to need your help, as well as _yours_ , to uncover the truth."

"I thought you agreed that it was best to bury the truth."

"No, I agreed that it was best to deflect suspicion away from the _other false culprit_."

"You promised me answers, but all I have is questions," Angel said.

"Lana, do you have the jar fragments?"

"They're in evidence."

"I want to see them. I have a hunch that Neil's vest wasn't the only clue with a piece missing."

"Mia…"

"You agreed with me that the jar had to be whole when it was written on. It screams 'fake clue'."

"Yeah, but I wiped away the writing anyway."

"Wiped, not washed. Luminol will reveal the truth. But either way, the jar had to have been broken after the fact, which means someone had to be conscious in that room at some point between the writing of that message—whether Neil wrote it or not—and our arrival. And I'm fairly certain that that person was Damon Gant."

"So what if it was? Damon likely did it to protect Ema."

"Why break the jar, though? If that jar was whole, the best way to protect her would've been to clean it up and put it back on its stand, so no one even realized the scuffle had been on his side of the office at all? Not to mention waiting for you to 'discover' the body before staging it…"

"So what's his motive?"

"…Blackmail, I'd imagine. You helped him with the cover-up, and the clues that you didn't forge point to Ema being the real killer. You're pretty much conceding your entire life to that man."

"I…I don't believe you."

"When we parted ways, he was still hiding something. We never actually did confirm the message on that jar to be Ema's name, but I think he already knew that it was."

"…I saw an E, and an A. I think. Probably.

"Were you paying attention to every piece?"

"…No, I was in shock."

"…I suppose the real question is whether there were any curved lines or if they were all straight. An A and an E could also be part of 'DARKE', but EMA is all straight lines while D and R both have curved ones."

"…I think it was 'EMA'. But…I didn't see anything that looked like an M."

"…Make sure that that jar is submitted to evidence. Actually…just get me a real list of evidence. And…you took a photo of the body before moving it, right?"

"…That's not getting approved."

"Does Gant know about the photo?"

"No, of course not."

"Good. Keep it that way. It needn't be on the evidence list pre-trial, but…should the truth of the crime scene be revealed, it may become useful."

"…There are photos of the staged crime scene that would show that missing piece of vest, too."

"…Well, yes, that _is_ what I was getting at, but without the missing piece itself, that's not going to be much help."

"You're scheming something, aren't you?"

"…Let's just say that I'm looking forward to Darke's trial."

"…Here. I don't want to hang onto this any longer than I have to. I can't leave it here because Damon might discover it, and I can't leave it at home because Ema might discover it."

"Is this…?"

"Yes, it's the picture depicting the true crime scene. Just remind whoever it is you're planning to get to defend Darke that it won't be legal evidence at the start of the trial."

"Well, it _could_ be, since I'm a detective as well and could approve it. But…presenting it too early is not in our best interests, since it would put the suspicion on Ema."

"Is there a reason I had to be here?" Angel Starr asked, having been thoroughly left out of the conversation.

"The path I'm going down could cost me my job. I need to know you'll have my back."

"You know it, Mia. You're an Ace Detective and I feel like I learn more from you than I've ever been able to teach you, even though I'm the more experienced one."

"Thanks. I never realized you felt that way."

"Eh, well, I'm not usually one to get all sentimental. So you wouldn't unless you asked me directly, because I wouldn't be able to get away with lying to you. How does that work, anyway?"

"…I'd rather keep the exact details a secret, but…I'm actually from a clan of spirit mediums. I have some spiritual power myself, but my mother and sister are far more skilled than I am. My mother's the current Master of the clan; she can even channel the spirits of the dead."

"I'm…not really sure I believe that, but…wouldn't it be easier to just _ask_ murder victims who killed them, if that really works?"

"Well, maybe if the victim saw his attacker. But in this scenario, I would expect Neil would identify Darke as the killer. As far as he knew, he fought with Darke, then got shoved by Ema, and then he was dead. Even if he suspected Ema had accidentally killed him, he'd protect her and name Darke..."

"Who you think is innocent of this particular crime."

Mia nodded. "Yeah."

"Who are you getting to defend Darke?"

"Well, I haven't secured anyone yet, but…I'm meeting with Miles Edgeworth after work."

"The one who failed to exonerate your cousin of grand larceny charges?"

"Dahlia's been a thief for as long as I've known her, and her _first_ crime also involved a faked kidnapping followed by faking her own death. That one failed, thanks to the intervention of a few convenient visitors to the remote temple where this was all staged."

"…What."

"Ask anyone who was already on the force in 2007 about Officer Valerie Hawthorne."

"Another cousin?"

"No, she's no relative of mine. Dahlia's stepsister; after Dahlia and Iris's parents split up, their father remarried Valerie's mother and Valerie took on his name. Even if Dahlia and Valerie _were_ related, though, that still wouldn't make her a blood relative of mine since Dahlia's _mother_ is a Fey."

"I'll look up the case file. Based on your knowledge of the case, though, I'm guessing I'll find your name in it?"

Mia beamed. "That was the case that inspired me to become a detective."

* * *

CCX: Yeah, that capitalization was practically necessary, since this seems to be turning into _Ace Detective Investigations: Mia Fey_. Who may or may not be a gender-flipped version of the _Gotham_ incarnation of Jim Gordon. Angel's not really jaded enough to be Bullock, though.

* * *

 **6:14 PM  
Edgeworth Law Offices**

"For the last time, I'm really going to have to ask you two to leave. I'm expecting someone any minute now." The door opened. "…And now it's too late."

"Oh? A lady friend? Way to go, Edgey!"

"Larry. Detective Fey is here about a case."

"Oh? So then she's on the market?" the one called Larry asked.

"LARRY." Miles Edgeworth looked at his friend sternly.

"We should go," said the other one. "I'm sorry about Larry, Miss…wait, have we met before?"

"I don't think so," Mia said, while Miles facepalmed.

"Hey, no fair, Nick!" Larry said. "You've already got a girlfriend!"

"I wasn't flirting with her! She just…reminds me of…" Something clicked in his head. "Wait, did I hear Edgey introduce you as Detective _Fey_?"

"…I thought you said Iris only had one sister, and she's in prison," Larry said.

"Ah, you know my cousin?"

"Indeed. Phoenix was the one who asked me to represent Miss Hawthorne. Apparently her twin sister was quite distraught when she was arrested, and then Phoenix mentioned that one of his childhood best friends was a defense attorney…"

"You're…Iris mentioned that she had a boyfriend. 'Feenie', she called him. I never asked what it was short for. So your name is Phoenix?"

Phoenix nodded. "Wright."

"And your last name?"

"I just…oh, right." Phoenix laughed. "My name is Phoenix Wright. This flake is Larry Butz, and of course you already know Miles Edgeworth."

"Nice to meet you. My name's Mia Fey."

"Nice to meet you too. We should be going, though; Edgey said you were here on business." He led Larry out of the building.

"They seemed…interesting."

"That's…putting it kindly. We had a saying about Larry in school: 'When something smells, it's usually the Butz.' I keep dreading the day when I'll have to defend _him_ , and not because I think he'll actually commit a crime."

"And Phoenix? …Iris has had a tough life, so I guess I want to hear your opinion of the man she's been dating."

"Phoenix is…a good person. He doesn't really apply himself, but he means well, and I'm sure he'll do right by her. Anyway, you said you had information?"

"Here's an evidence list. Of particular importance is this jar." Mia took out a floor plan of Lana and Damon's office. "Now, what I'm about to tell you is part of the cover-up, because it _probably_ points to someone other than Joe Darke…but really, it's a false clue."

"Go on."

"When we found the crime scene, the smashed jar had bloody writing on it. That writing's been cleaned up, but traces of blood should still be present."

"Has it been tested?"

"It's Neil's, of course. But do you see the contradiction?"

Miles nodded. "The jar was smashed when the crime scene was discovered, but the writing covered multiple pieces, so it must have been whole when it was written on. Which of course means a culprit that _wasn't_ found unconscious at the scene of the crime smashed it. But of course, the writing won't be part of the official evidence list, so it can't be used."

"If the chance presents itself, ask to examine the jar. I can't confirm it, but I suspect there's a fragment missing. Because…it wouldn't be the only suspicious absence." She took out the picture. "Lana took this picture when she first discovered the body, _before_ Deputy Chief Gant arrived. He doesn't know about it. As far as the cover-up goes, it's a smoking gun, but…"

"It doesn't actually exonerate Darke. Any prosecutor worth his salt will try to claim that Darke moved the body."

"…It points to a frame-up. Which worries me…"

"Because the logical train of thought is that the police were covering up the true details and framing Darke because the real killer was Detective Skye's younger sister."

Mia nodded. "I think she's been framed, too. After all, she was unconscious as well."

"…I may have to at least accuse her in order to progress the case. After all, your suspect will be a tough man to get."

"…If things get desperate, that picture _is_ proof that the crime scene was tampered with. It'll buy you some time if nothing else. The missing piece of Neil's vest was never found, after all; the fact that there was a piece missing isn't even in the report."

"…I'm naturally hesitant to take on a client who I suspect is a murderer."

"Don't think of it as defending a murderer. Think of it as defending a wrongfully accused man. This trial will strictly be for the murder of Neil Marshall, not for the murders of Edward Jones, Jason Knight, Edith Kirby, Rachael Moss, and Jeb Bates."

"…Well, if you're certain."

* * *

 **February 21, 2015  
10:00 AM  
Detention Center**

"A visitor? I don't want any visitors."

Miles Edgeworth took out his badge. "I'm sure you don't, Mr. Darke. However, your trial will begin in two days. For the record…can you list the charges that are being brought against you?"

"…I am being charged with five counts of murder. Edward Jones, Jason Knight, Edith Kirby, Rachael Moss, and Jeb Bates. I have confessed to these crimes, and wish to plead guilty to all five counts." He seemed remorseful.

"Thank you, Mr. Darke. Let the record show that my client, Mr. Joe Darke, has willingly confessed to those five murders, _and only those five_ , and at this time, February 21, 2015, at 10:02 AM, was entirely unaware of the identity of the victim in the trial that would be beginning two days hence." He turned off the recording device. "Were I defending you for those five crimes, I would try to bargain the first killing down to involuntary manslaughter, and attempt to get a verdict of not guilty by reason of temporary insanity for the other four charges, citing your mental state after having fatally struck a man with your car. However, I'm only here to defend you in the current case."

"…They had my confession and they're framing me for a murder I _didn't_ commit?"

"If you truly were as remorseful as you appear, you wouldn't have tried to run. Either way, you're likely in quite a bind…but who knows? Maybe getting acquitted of this murder will help your case for the ones you did commit."

"…Who did I allegedly kill?"

"Hmm…perhaps it would be best for my case to keep you in the dark a bit longer." He smirked at the obvious pun. "Just leave this to me."

* * *

 **February 22, 2015  
9:00 AM  
District Court**

"Here's the paperwork for tomorrow's trial."

"Oh? I was under the impression that Mr. Darke waived his right to an attorney?"

"That's correct, sir."

"Well, it says here that he's being represented by Miles Edgeworth."

"…What."

"Yes, right here. Defendant: Joe Darke. Attorney: Miles Edgeworth."

"That wasn't the case before! He waived that right!"

"He waived that right for the first five charges," a court clerk said. "Since a new charge is being brought against him, he has the right to counsel for this charge."

Damon Gant was inwardly seething. _(He shouldn't even_ KNOW _there's a new charge!_ ) "Yes, of course. I was unaware that he'd retained counsel…and such a fine young lawyer, too. Should be interesting seeing two young guns going at it, eh?"

* * *

CCX: *smirk* _Two_ young guns? Well, that's certainly interesting. Every prosecutor that Phoenix has ever faced is either a.) too old to be called a "young gun" (Manfred von Karma, the Payne brothers), b.) _too_ young to be practicing law in this country at this time (Franziska, Klavier, Simon), or c.) a defense attorney (Edgeworth, who was the prosecutor for this case in canon, and Diego Armando). Thoughts?


	7. Trial Day 1

Butterfly  
by Cyberchao X

Summary: _It's amazing how drastically the course of history can be altered with just the slightest difference in a single event. In the world of Ace Attorney, the first quarter of the 21_ _st_ _century was shaped by one single moment._

CCX: Guess who's starting a law course? …Unfortunately, it's all about contract law. We spent the first 20 minutes or so talking about criminal and tort law, just because that's what most people are most familiar with due to the media (Guilty as charged!), so we know what we're _not_ doing.

 **February 23, 2015  
10:00 AM  
Courtroom #7**

"Court is now in session for the trial of Joe Darke for the murder of Neil Marshall." Darke looked stunned upon hearing the name of the victim. "Is the prosecution ready?"

"The prosecution will give 110%!" came the reply, confusing the Judge, who had to be told that it was only a euphemism. He then asked the defense if they were ready and got a far more subdued response.

"Your opening statement?"

Jacques Portsman nodded. "In September 2014, Joe Darke allegedly struck Edward Jones with his car, killing him, and then killed four other witnesses to the crime. However, today's trial concerns only one murder—that of Prosecutor Neil Marshall. A few days ago, Darke was finally caught, and when he attempted to escape custody, he and Prosecutor Marshall fought, and Darke killed Marshall."

"OBJECTION!" Miles Edgeworth shouted, evidence in hand.

"You can't object to my opening statement!" Portsman rebutted.

"I can when it contradicts the evidence. Joe Darke turned himself in of his own free will, and had no plans of escaping." He presented the recording he'd made two days prior. "With the permission of the police department, I recorded my initial conversation with my client. He had no prior knowledge that the conversation would be recorded, and I have signed affadavits from the detention center guards backing me up on this." He played the tape.

" _A visitor? I don't want any visitors."_

" _I'm sure you don't, Mr. Darke. However, your trial will begin in two days. For the record…can you list the charges that are being brought against you?"_

"… _I am being charged with five counts of murder. Edward Jones, Jason Knight, Edith Kirby, Rachael Moss, and Jeb Bates. I have confessed to these crimes, and wish to plead guilty to all five counts."_

" _Thank you, Mr. Darke. Let the record show that my client, Mr. Joe Darke, has willingly confessed to those five murders, and only those five, and at this time, February 21, 2015, at 10:02 AM, was entirely unaware of the identity of the victim in the trial that would be beginning two days hence."_

"In fact, my client had previously waived his right to counsel regarding the five murders committed this past September. However, since a new charge was being brought against him, he had reacquired the right to retain counsel, and chose to do so, as he is being framed for this crime. …Frankly, I'm disappointed that the police department felt the need to frame him for a crime when they already had his confession to five others."

"Objection!"

"Withdrawn. Now, then, I believe the customary procedure is to start by calling the detective heading up the investigation to give a summary of the case?"

"That's my job. The prosecution calls Detective Lana Skye to the stand." Lana Skye took the stand. "Witness, state your name and occupation."

"Lana Skye, detective with the LAPD. I was honestly unaware that my superiors had failed to inform Mr. Darke of this new charge at the time that it was brought against him, though I'm relieved that someone at least managed to get him a lawyer. I'd hate to think that we were violating the basic tenets of due process." (CCX: I stand corrected. Looks like I've already learned something new.)

"Very good. Your statement?"

 **Lana's Statement**

"It was just past 7:00 PM. I was on my way to my office when I learned of Darke's escape. Knowing that my sister was waiting in my office, I hurried there to make sure that Darke hadn't gone there. When I arrived, I found both Darke and my sister unconscious and Prosecutor Neil Marshall dead."

 **Cross-Examination**

"It was just past 7:00 PM."

"HOLD IT! You're certain of the time?"

"Very certain. I was originally supposed to get off from work at six that day, but due to the high-profile case—that would be Joe Darke's—I was asked to stay an additional hour."

"…"

"I was on my way to my office when I learned of Darke's escape."

"HOLD IT! You say you 'learned of' Darke's escape. From whom did you learn this?"

"My partner, Deputy Chief Damon Gant. He was in the interrogation room with Prosecutor Marshall prior to the blackout."

"Why weren't you in there with your partner?"

"I wonder that as well. I keep thinking that perhaps if there had been another person present, Darke might not have escaped, and Neil would still be alive."

"…You can't blame yourself. Whatever it was that happened, it's not your fault."

"Knowing that my sister was waiting in my office, I hurried there to make sure that Darke hadn't gone there."

"HOLD IT! Your sister?"

Lana nodded. "As I stated before, I was originally only supposed to work until six o'clock that day. I had made plans with another detective, Mia Fey, to get together for dinner that night along with our respective younger sisters, who are around the same age, since Mia's sister was going to be in town visiting her."

"YAWN!" Jacques Portsman said dramatically. "Witness, please try to stay on topic!"

"Mr. Edgeworth asked a question. I was merely providing the necessary information. To summarize, my sister arrived at the precinct at 6:00. Detective Fey informed me that Ema had arrived and would be waiting in my office and then left to meet her sister at the restaurant where we'd made plans."

(A lie, of course. I know as well as she does that Detective Fey was still there at 7:00…but there's no evidence to prove it, and that's one lie that it does me no good to pick apart.)

"When I arrived, I found both Darke and my sister unconscious and Prosecutor Neil Marshall dead."

"HOLD IT! Can you testify about the condition of the crime scene?"

"You'll have to clarify."

"The body. The positioning of the body, for example… _All_ of the bodies, I should say."

"Are you sure you want to hear that?" Portsman asked.

"But of course."

 **Finding the Bodies**

"Neil Marshall was face-down on my side of the office that I share with Deputy Chief Gant. A broken knife was near him, and there was a stab wound in his back that suggested some difficulty removing the weapon. Darke was unconscious next to Neil's body. Ema was slumped over on Damon's side of the office."

(That's perfect,) Mia Fey thought from her position in the gallery. (By placing _a_ body on Damon's side of the office, she provided an opening for the jar to be introduced as evidence.)

 **Cross-Examination**

"Neil Marshall was face-down on my side of the office that I share with Deputy Chief Gant."

"HOLD IT! Face- _down_?"

"Yes. It was immediately evident that the two had struggled. It did seem odd that Marshall had been stabbed in the back, but the autopsy report confirmed it. The prevailing theory—and this is only a theory—is that they had struggled in such close proximity that Darke actually had a better angle to reach around and stab him in the back, towards his own body."

"HOLD IT! He stabbed Marshall with the point of his knife pointing towards himself? That's absolutely ridiculous!"

"HOLD IT! A psychological profile of Mr. Darke done by the police department shows that he is, in fact, less than completely sane. Strictly speaking…'Murder' may not actually be the best charge to pursue; however, the end result would be the same as he's clearly too much of a danger to society to be left on the streets."

"…If the prosecutor is finished trying to undermine his own case," Lana said annoyedly, "in this case, not necessarily. The knife was not long enough to pierce all the way through Neil's body to hit Darke, and they were too close for Darke to possibly hit himself in the event that he somehow missed Neil completely, though even _that_ strains belief."

"…Could you add that bit about the length of the knife to your testimony?"

"Is this important, Mr. Edgeworth?" the Judge asked.

Edgeworth nodded. "Very important, Your Honor."

"A broken knife was near him, and there was a stab wound in his back that suggested some difficulty removing the weapon."

"OBJECTION!" Present: Autopsy Report. "This report states that the weapon itself was found in the wound with a broken tip."

"I was the discovering officer. There was obviously a miscommunication; we found the _broken-off tip_ in the wound."

"…And the 'difficulty removing it'?"

"We believe the knife broke when it was being removed from Prosecutor Marshall's back."

"…Please add that clarification to your testimony.

"Darke was unconscious next to Neil's body."

"HOLD IT! Who knocked Darke out?"

"Most likely Neil Marshall did. Death was not instantaneous. The knife likely fell a short distance away afterwards, explaining its positioning."

"Ema was slumped over on Damon's side of the office."

"HOLD IT! Why all the way over there?"

"That's not really my place to say. The department took a statement from Ema…of sorts."

"Of sorts?"

"My sister was traumatized by the incident, and was unable to really speak much of it. She drew a picture of what she saw. As best as I can tell…she saw the fight lit up by a lightning strike, tried to break it up, and got shoved aside."

"This picture is in evidence?"

"Indeed."

"We believe the knife broke when it was being removed from Prosecutor Marshall's back."

"OBJECTION!" Present: Ema's drawing. "This drawing depicts a moment _before_ the stabbing took place, yet you can clearly see that the knife in this drawing is already broken!"

"OBJECTION! You can't clearly see _anything_ in that drawing; it's all shadows, which makes sense because this happened in a room with no lights."

"OBJECTION! There was lightning lighting up the room!"

"OBJECTION! You also can't prove this was before the stabbing! Detective Skye stated that the struggle likely continued on after Prosecutor Marshall had been stabbed!"

"…A fair enough theory. You're right, I _can't_ prove this. You also can't _disprove_ it. Tell me, Prosecutor, how do you propose we break this standoff?"

"Heh. It may be a tie after Round 1, but I'll still knock you out! Clearly, we need the younger Miss Skye to testify about her drawing!"

(A _boxing_ metaphor? Really?) "I couldn't agree with you more. However, as Detective Skye stated, her sister wasn't exactly doing so well with giving a statement to the police, and testifying in court is a far more stressful situation…not to mention one that the department initially believed she wouldn't have to do."

"Prosecutor Portsman? Is Miss Skye in the courthouse at this time?"

"…She is not. It is, after all, a Monday. In spite of her traumatic experience this past Thursday, she felt that the best way to get past this incident was to move on with her life, and so she is currently in school."

"Well, then. Our key witness is unavailable. I hate to close the day's proceedings so quickly, but it seems I have no choice."

"HOLD IT!" Lana Skye. "The school is not all that far from the courthouse, and I believe that due to the magnitude of this case, you have no other trials scheduled for today, correct?"

"That is true…"

"Perhaps you can take a recess of…85 minutes, let's say. It's currently 20 minutes to 11:00 AM. Ema's lunch break is at noon; we could easily have her here within five minutes. Her testimony shouldn't take long, though if it does, the department will take full responsibility for further missed class time."

"…Very well. Court will reconvene at 12:05 PM."

* * *

 **10:42 AM  
Courtroom Lobby #3**

"So my last alleged victim was Prosecutor Marshall?" Darke asked.

"Indeed. My apologies for not telling you; I felt your genuine surprise would help your case."

"…It's weird. You'd think I'd be relieved that it was the prosecutor and not the girl, but I don't feel any difference."

"Prosecutor Marshall was a good man. Not like a lot of the other prosecutors I've faced. But the real reason you don't feel any difference is because you're innocent either way."

"I'm far from innocent. But I know what you meant. Regardless of the victim, I wasn't the killer in this instance."

"While accused killers rarely get to testify, I'd nevertheless like to ask you what _did_ happen that night."

"…I'm not entirely sure. I _did_ run away from the interrogation room, and I _did_ end up in that office, and I _did_ take that girl hostage. I fought with the prosecutor, and…the girl came at us, and I don't know what happened next."

"That's pretty close to what they said, minus the stabbing part." Miles thought about this for a moment. "This drawing that Ema—'the girl'—made, it shows a broken knife raised to stab a man. Do you have any thoughts?"

Joe Darke thought about it. "It was dark. I guess the knife _could've_ been broken…"

"Your knife?"

"No…his."

"…What."

"During our fight, he had a weapon as well. It was about the same size as mine."

"…Damnit, they're covering up evidence again."

"…Of course they are."

"…Wait a minute. I think I've figured it out. I'll see what I can come up with."

* * *

 **12:05 PM  
Courtroom #7**

"Court will now reconvene. Is the witness present?"

"Not yet, Your Honor," said Jacques Portsman. "Hold on, I've just been informed that she has just arrived."

"Very well. Call your witness."

Portsman did so. "Witness, please state your name and profession."

"My name is Ema Skye. I'm a student…eighth grade."

"Very good. Miss Skye, I know we all wish we didn't need to call you away from school to testify here, but there are certain…uncertainties in the statement you gave to the police this past Thursday night; ones that must be cleared up in order for our case to proceed. Could you please go into detail about the contents of this drawing?"

"…That's not the full drawing."

"…Excuse me?"

"There was another piece of it. See, this paper's all torn."

"The relevant portion is here," said the deputy chief, Damon Gant. "Emmy, dear, please tell the court what you saw."

"O-okay…"

 **What I saw**

"I was waiting for my sister when the lights went out. A man came rushing into her office and grabbed me. Neil was right behind him, and they fought. The other man held up a knife to stab Neil, and I pushed him away. He shoved me back, and I fell unconscious."

"Satisfied?" Portsman asked Edgeworth.

"Very. Miss Skye has in fact stated that she did not witness the moment of the stabbing."

Portsman bit down on his medal. "…Just cross-examine her already."

 **Cross-examination**

"The other man held up a knife to stab Neil, and I pushed him away."

"HOLD IT! This drawing doesn't look like a knife!"

"…Well, they told me afterwards that it was. And when the lightning struck, it shined like a knife would."

"Would you believe that it was a broken knife?"

Ema nodded. "That sounds about right."

"And this was before the man actually stabbed Neil Marshall?"

"Correct."

"This presents a contradiction. Joe Darke's knife was not actually broken when he first entered the office; the tip was found inside Neil Marshall's body. Furthermore…this drawing depicts one man already on the ground, which goes against the scenario described to us earlier by Detective Skye."

"OBJECTION! Detective Skye stated that the scenario she described was only a theory!"

"Well, then, allow me to present a theory of my own. Due to the poor lighting, Ema didn't actually see what she thought she saw. I believe that the man on the ground in this picture is actually…" Present Profile: "Joe Darke."

"That's ludicrous! So then the man with the knife is Neil Marshall? Is that what you're saying?!"

Miles Edgeworth nodded. "And I have evidence to support it." Present: Newspaper Clipping. "On the day of his murder, Neil Marshall received the King of Prosecutors Trophy, as depicted in this article. It should've still been in his possession at the time of his demise."

"…Such a trophy is listed among the evidence found at the scene."

"Might the court see the trophy itself?"

"You've already shown us what it looks like," Portsman retorted.

Miles shook his head. "I've shown you what it _looked_ like. I believe you'll find the version in evidence to be a bit…lacking." Portsman begrudgingly presented the trophy, revealing that the bladed half of the trophy was missing.

"But what does this mean?"

"As stated, Joe Darke and Neil Marshall fought. However…Neil Marshall was not unarmed while defending himself, and he _won_ the fight. However, just as he proved victorious, lightning lit up the room, and Miss Skye, misunderstanding the situation, attacked the man she believed to be Joe Darke. In reality, this man was Neil Marshall, and he shoved her across the room—as Miss Skye testified—knocking her out."

"But then who murdered Neil Marshall?"

"That…is still an unknown. The next person to arrive on the scene, I would assume."

"You mean…Detective Skye?"

Miles Edgeworth shook his head. "No. The real killer arrived after Neil's fight with Joe Darke and was gone again by the time Detective Skye arrived on scene. That said...Miss Skye needs to be returning to class, so I'd just like to ask one more time about that missing piece of the drawing."

"It's irrelevant!" protested Deputy Chief Gant.

"Irrelevant? Or…damaging to your case?"

"…I'll allow it. Bring in the missing piece of the drawing."

* * *

"…What is this?"

"I'm not really sure about that myself, actually," Ema admitted. "But I definitely saw it in the office, during the struggle."

"Hmm…perhaps it was this?" Edgeworth pointed to an entry on the evidence list labeled "broken jar". "I'm unfamiliar with the jar in question, but perhaps it looks like that if viewed from a certain angle? Or did when it was whole, anyway."

"I fail to see its relevance to the case," Portsman said.

"Well, it's not worth keeping Miss Skye over, anyway," agreed Edgeworth. "No further questions for the current witness." Ema was dismissed from the courtroom. "As for our resident detectives…I see blood on this jar?"

"Allow me," Deputy Chief Gant said. "That jar resided in my half of the office. Those pieces were found near Emmy's unconscious body. Testing the blood revealed it to be Emmy's; we believe that when she was shoved away, the jar was knocked off of its stand and hit her in the head, knocking her out."

"I didn't see any signs of a head wound," Edgeworth said.

"It hit her in the back of the head. Certainly you wouldn't expect a teenage girl to go to school with such a wound and not try to hide it, would you? I've known Emmy for three years and this is the first time I've ever seen her with her hair down."

(Damnit. That would've been an easy lie to disprove if Ema was still in the courtroom, but as it stands, it's perfectly believable.)

Meanwhile, attempts were being made at reassembling the jar. "There…seems to be a piece missing."

"So the detectives missed a piece. It should be complete enough to test Mr. Edgeworth's theory."

"HOLD IT! That missing piece…is quite important."

"…Bull."

"These bloodstains are too far apart to have merely been caused by the jar hitting Ema. It looks like…writing."

"I don't see it."

"Neither do I," concurred the Judge.

"Well, of course not. It was cleaned up…for the most part. Just enough left to not be suspicious. Except for the missing piece. The insurance."

"Insurance?"

"Let me spell it out for you again, Your Honor. The police department was so afraid that they wouldn't be able to make the charges against Joe Darke stick that they created a new murder with ready-made evidence. Everything about this trial thus far has been a lie."

"OBJECTION!"

"Deputy Chief, I do not believe you have that right. Or are you nervous as to what we might find? Now, the autopsy report conveniently left out the presence of the exit wound…a wound that, as per Detective Skye's earlier testimony regarding the size of Darke's knife, shouldn't exist. Of course, this photograph clearly shows the body…and, for that matter, the murder weapon." He presented Lana's Photo.

"This…this is illegal evidence!"

"It most certainly is not. See, 'Crime Scene Photograph'. It's written right there on the evidence list."

"That's not the photograph listed there."

"Deputy Chief Gant is right," Jacques Portsman said. "This is the only photograph of the crime scene."

"Huh. Really. Perhaps the discrepancy comes from an incomplete evidence list. Because, you see, there's another one listed on this half…You'll forgive me for assuming that the photograph I'd received was incorrect, since it contradicted the other evidence so drastically."

"You had that photo from the start, and had plenty of opportunities to present it. Give it up, Worthy; it's not legal evidence."

"…I received this photograph directly from a member of your department. My hesitance to submit it earlier was because, as I said, I believed that there was something off about this case, and I had seen the photo that Mr. Portsman is brandishing as well. Having seen the complete evidence list, containing two separate photographs, I'm now certain that this is, in fact, legal evidence."

"…Well done, Mr. Edgeworth," Lana said. "But I don't buy it. Why wait?"

"I assure you, Detective, it was only to make sure that I had the facts straight. And also…because I could only be certain of its significance once that jar had been reassembled."

"THE! JAR! ISN'T! SIGNIFICANT!" Portsman was frothing, which Gant was silently thankful for as the overzealous prosecutor was distracting attention from him.

"It is. For you see…that fragment isn't the only piece of evidence that's missing. TAKE THAT!" He pointed out the missing piece of Neil's vest. "This photograph contradicts another piece of evidence—the newspaper clipping with the photograph of Prosecutor Marshall receiving his award earlier that day. At some point between that morning's ceremony and his death, a piece of his vest was cut out. I believe that this cloth could be decisive evidence."

"And where is this piece of evidence?" the Judge asked.

"That's the question, isn't it? It doesn't appear on the evidence list—not even the concealed portion. It seems that in addition to covering evidence up, the police failed to do a thorough job of investigating this murder at all."

"You're out of line… _Un_ worthy."

"It is my job as a defense attorney to pursue justice for my client."

"Your client is guilty."

"Of five murders—well, an involuntary manslaughter and four murders, really, but that's just quibbling. And he's confessed to all five of those. But that is at best tangentially relevant to the case at hand—it provides background as to why he was at the precinct that day, but ultimately it just makes him a convenient scapegoat at best and a motive at worst."

"Mr. Edgeworth. What do you mean when you say that Mr. Darke was 'a motive'?"

Miles Edgeworth sighed. "As I _just stated_ a couple of minutes ago, someone in the police department murdered Neil Marshall, _not_ because they had a motive to murder _him_ in particular, but because he was a convenient victim for 'Darke' to be convicted for murdering, due to perfectly manufactured evidence. Judging by the Deputy Chief's reactions to the most recent proceedings, starting with the moment I declared the majority of today's proceedings to be lies, I believe he is at the very least a key figure in the cover-up."

"'At the very least'? If I didn't know better, I'd say you were accusing _me_ of murdering Neil!"

"It is a distinct possibility. After all…the only other logical suspect was the one who took this photo in the first place."

"Enough!" interjected the Judge. "Mr. Edgeworth, you have made your point, and everything else here is just baseless conjecture. Court is adjourned for the day, and a _thorough_ investigation will be conducted, under supervision from higher authority."

"Higher authority?" Portsman asked.

The Judge nodded. "Normally, the Prosecutor's Office alone provides enough oversight to keep the Police Department in line. However, the victim in this case is a prosecutor, so they cannot be unbiased."

"…Might the P.I.C. be a proper authority? Their job is to oversee the prosecutors."

"Very well. We'll contact them."

(Perfect. Chief Debeste will make sure things go our way.)

* * *

CCX: The chapter would've been a bit short if I'd ended it after Lana's testimony, but even though she had more testimony than Ema did, it became quite long once Ema testified. It took a while to figure out how to make the picture legal evidence despite not being presented early on, but I realized that thanks to the cover-up, it was quite possible that presenting the other half of Ema's drawing, aka the rest of the Evidence List, would be an action that would make it legal. As for how it got there, well, I'm still not sure how Ema's drawing ended up on the back of an evidence list in the first place, since she presumably gave her statement the night of the crime. I mean, I know it says that she testified in the trial itself, but…it all seems a bit vague.

Hopefully this has provided enough that next chapter will finish the SL-9 arc. Much like Chapter 4 being done before Chapter 3, I had another chapter that I'd started working on even before Chapter 6, which at the time I'd designated as "Chapter 8" but I quickly realized would have to be Chapter 9. I completed it earlier today, and it should be posted right after Chapter 8…assuming that I can indeed wrap this up in only one more chapter. I've also got plans for a couple more "major arcs"…Until then, this is Cyberchao X, signing off.


	8. Trial Day 2

Butterfly  
by Cyberchao X

Summary: _It's amazing how drastically the course of history can be altered with just the slightest difference in a single event. In the world of Ace Attorney, the first quarter of the 21_ _st_ _century was shaped by one single moment._

 **February 23, 2015  
7:16 PM  
Edgeworth Law Offices**

"Detective Fey. I hope you bring good news?"

"Indeed. Seeing as how I had already been given an alibi under oath, I was allowed to investigate the scene. The supervisor was P.I.C. head Blaise Debeste, who…wasn't exactly a neutral party, seeing as how he was the Chief Prosecutor of Los Angeles until just a few months ago, but nevertheless allowed the evidence to be discovered."

"And?"

"The missing piece of the jar was discovered in Damon's safe, and with it, the missing piece of Neil's vest. Damon's already been suspended and charged with obstruction of justice."

"Why did he cut the piece out?"

"There was a handprint on the piece that had been cut out. We dusted for prints, and…it belonged to Ema Skye."

"To Ema?"

"Your theory that the man Ema pushed was actually Neil Marshall was correct."

"…And if they try to point the finger at Ema?"

"They shouldn't, given that she's not the accused. Furthermore, her story doesn't contradict the evidence."

" _Yet_. After all, the picture I showed clearly has the suit of armor as the murder weapon…and that puts everything that Lana said about the locations of the bodies as being wrong. Now, about that 'alibi'…"

"You think Damon Gant will try to throw both Lana and me under the bus by refuting that statement. Not to worry…I obtained a reliable corroboration."

"…a corroboration of an alibi that _you don't have._ "

"If it gets called into question, this is your objection." She handed him a tape labeled "Security footage February 19 6:00 PM-6:30 PM". "I believe this will be conclusive. It's from the outside security camera at the restaurant. It shows me arriving at 6:10 PM, which is consistent with me leaving the precinct just past 6:00. As for the possibility of it being faked on another day, well, my sister wasn't in town on any other day, and this other footage shows us leaving the restaurant together just past 9:00 PM." She took out another tape, labeled "Security footage February 19 9:00 PM-9:30 PM".

"Are you asking me to present false evidence?"

"Not at all. The labels are entirely for convenience for differentiation as evidence, and if you're willing to sit through the entirety of these half-hour long tapes, you'll find that everything matches up perfectly."

"We won't find any doctored timestamps?"

"There are no timestamps. It's a very old model, I'm afraid. There's a big digital clock in the background which corroborates the time. I can assure you that the footage has not been doctored in any way."

"…I don't believe you, Mia Fey."

"I understand. You want the whole truth. Well, then, it's too bad that these are the only videos that have been deemed relevant."

"What are you hiding?"

"As I said, the labels were not applied at the restaurant. These labels do reflect what the videos _appear_ to show. What it fails to show is a certain light in the clock going out shortly before 8:00 PM and then coming back on again at about quarter to 9."

"…You mean that your '6:00 to 6:30' tape actually shows what happened between 8:00 and 8:30, and that you messed with the clock itself to make it look like the wrong time?"

"Lana and Damon told me to disappear. I made sure I had an alibi. Of course, the light in the clock went out at 7:57 PM. I wonder what will happen if you try to question what I was doing at that time?"

Miles Edgeworth gulped. (That's the exact moment she called my office.) "Well played, Miss Fey. So I'm to be your alibi for the sabotage of the clock if it comes to it?"

"I'm glad you understand. Of course, Lana is willing to testify that Gant coerced her into participating in the cover-up."

"Did he?"

"In a manner of speaking. His frame-up of the crime scene _was_ supposed to make Ema look like the killer, after all. But there's a big fat contradiction in that now."

"Do tell."

"Sorry, I can't do that at the moment. You'll notice it right away tomorrow; it's really glaring."

"…You know, I thought you were different from all of the others."

"I already suspected Gant at that time. He may seem eccentric, but he's sharp. Sometimes to catch a criminal, you have to think like a criminal."

* * *

 **February 24, 2015  
10:00 AM  
Courtroom #7**

"Court is now in session for the trial of Joe Darke. Prosecutor Portsman, what has yesterday's investigation unveiled?"

"As Mr. Edgeworth theorized, Deputy Chief Damon Gant and Detective Lana Skye were actively trying to conceal the true circumstances of Neil Marshall's death. The missing piece of the jar was found in a safe belonging to Deputy Chief Gant, and with it, the missing piece of the victim's vest. An analysis of both concealed pieces of evidence showed that there was in fact writing on the jar, spelling out the name 'EMA', and that Ema Skye's handprint was on Prosecutor Marshall's vest."

"Well, then, I think that's enough to pass judgement. I find the defendant, Joe Darke…"

"HOLD IT!" Portsman. "It's true that this evidence _points_ to Ema Skye killing Neil Marshall. But it's hardly conclusive evidence that she _did_ it. Remember, if you will, that Ema herself testified to shoving the man she'd seen with the 'broken knife'. If that was indeed Neil Marshall, her handprint has already been explained, and yet, at that time Prosecutor Marshall was nowhere near his final resting place."

"Oh? You are quite certain of that?"

"Indeed. Once the jar was fully reassembled, we found that the angle at which it would have to be viewed in order to present that silhouette…why, you'd have to be looking almost straight up at it! Therefore, in spite of everything else that occurred yesterday, the testimony that Ema Skye was found on Damon Gant's side of the office, near the fragments of the jar, seems solid. Therefore…I believe the defense's theory that the murder occurred after Ema Skye was knocked out."

"And do you have a suspect?"

"I should think that would be obvious by the fact that I stopped you from giving your verdict. I believe that _Joe Darke_ is, in fact, the real murderer. Since Mr. Edgeworth was so kind to regale you with theories, here's mine. At some point, Neil Marshall yelled to Ema to run away, calling her by name—thus explaining how Darke knew what name to write on the jar. At the moment depicted in Ema's picture, Darke was on the ground, but _not_ unconscious. Ema hit the stand that the jar was on and it fell over, but it _didn't_ break. Neil Marshall went to check on her to make sure she was okay, and Darke got up and impaled the prosecutor on the nearby suit of armor. He then wrote Ema's name on the jar and was prepared to leave when he heard other people approaching, so facing the prospect of being caught red-handed, he faked unconsciousness."

"That's…quite a story. Mr. Edgeworth, your thoughts?"

"And at what point during this story is a piece cut from Marshall's vest? Or the jar broken?"

"After Detectives Gant and Skye arrived, of course. They are the ones who were concealing evidence after all."

"OBJECTION! The blood tells a very different story."

"A…different story?"

Miles Edgeworth nodded. "Most of the blood was cleaned off of the jar fragments that were found at the scene…but the portion that was found in Gant's safe had not been cleaned. Whoever was cleaning the fragments never encountered that one! But more telling than the blood on the jar fragment is the blood on the vest fragment."

"OBJECTION! There isn't any blood on the vest fragment!"

"My point exactly. TAKE THAT!" Present: Lana's Photo. "Look at all that blood. The only way that the piece of Marshall's vest found in Damon Gant's safe could be so pristine is if it was removed _before he was impaled!_ "

"…It seems you get the gold, Mr. Edgeworth. I…regret to say that I missed that. And since the decisive evidence was found in Damon Gant's safe…it seems I'll be prosecuting him next."

"Well, now, I wouldn't be too hasty to start prosecuting Gant. After all, I believe someone still has to try my client for the five people he allegedly killed this past September—and I'm _not_ defending him for those charges."

"Erm, Prosecutor…are you saying that you're ready for a verdict?"

Jacques Portsman sighed. "Yeah, I'm ready."

"Er-hrm. The court finds the defendant, Joe Darke…"

 **Not Guilty**

* * *

CCX: …Wait what happened to my chapter? There wasn't any testimony! I spent more time setting up Mia's fake alibi than I did actually covering Day 2 of the trial! …Ah, well, I guess that means you get three chapters in one day.

...oh, right, I've got to summarize what happened next. ...no, wait, that's bad storytelling, or so I've been told. This is Cyberchao X, signing off.


	9. Ace Detective: Mia Fey: Justice for All

Butterfly  
by Cyberchao X

Summary: _It's amazing how drastically the course of history can be altered with just the slightest difference in a single event. In the world of Ace Attorney, the first quarter of the 21_ _st_ _century was shaped by one single moment._

 **June 15, 2017  
1:21 PM  
Kurain Village**

"I don't know what to do," the woman currently known as Ini Miney said. "I was just approached the other day by 'my sister's' ex-boss, wanting to channel her spirit so that she could confess to being the one at fault for the medication mix-up that killed 14 patients. He didn't even know my connection to Mimi; he just asked me because I'm a parapsychology student."

"And you don't want your sister's name dragged through the mud any further?"

"It's not that. The truth is… _I'm_ Mimi Miney. The car accident…I was the one who survived, and Ini died, but because I was so badly disfigured…I was able to use it to escape from that horror. Claim that she was Mimi, and I was Ini, and use a picture of her to provide a basis for the facial reconstruction. So not even you could channel the spirit that he'll want you to channel…because I'm still alive."

Misty Fey thought this over. "And the actual confession?"

"I…suppose technically I was the one at fault, but he overworked me. The accident, too, I…he also wants me to swear in writing that the car accident was entirely my own fault. And that I won't do."

"Well, I'm not sure how to handle those issues. But I _can_ help you with faking the channeling so that your ruse isn't revealed."

"You'd do that?"

"I'm nothing if not reasonable. When a spirit medium channels a spirit, they take on the physical appearance of the spirit they're channeling. We'd need to make your hair color match mine, but…the Channeling Chamber is a locked room. If we hide you inside the chamber beforehand, wearing clothes identical to the ones I'd be wearing, we can switch places during the 'channeling' and you yourself could play the role of me channeling your spirit."

"What if he threatens me?"

"Remind him that you're already dead, and that there's nothing he can do to you."

"And if he proves ruthless enough to try attacking anyway, even though it would be 'you' who he'd be hurting rather than me?"

Misty struggled with this one. "You might not have a choice but to sign his confession. That said, a proper portrayal of me would have a concealed weapon of her own…"

* * *

 **June 19, 2017  
3:18 PM  
Meditation Room**

Misty Fey walked out of the Channeling Chamber. "We're going to need a doctor for Mr. Grey," she said simply.

"What happened in there?" asked her sister, Morgan.

"It seems this foolish man had delusions of being able to threaten a woman who was already dead. Seeing as how it was my body that would be harmed if he went through with it, I opted not to restrain the nurse's spirit from defending herself…though I reasserted control over my body when she started to turn murderous." Inside the Channeling Chamber, Mimi Miney and Turner Grey were both unconscious, the former hidden inside the same clothing box that had hidden her prior to the start of the channeling. As Misty had instructed her, Mimi unsheathed the sword hidden inside Misty's staff when Grey threatened her, and cut his shoulder quite deeply, rendering him unable to even properly aim his gun. When Mimi dropped the sword-cane to pick up the gun and shoot him, however, Misty intervened, picking the staff up and bludgeoning her with the blunt end to knock her out. She explained the situation, with only the slight alterations to hide Mimi's involvement, to the police, and since it had been in self-defense, no one was actually killed, and the "damage" had allegedly been done by a dead woman, no criminal charges were filed. Turner Grey nevertheless tried to sue the village and Misty for allowing that to happen, as his muscular damage affected his work as a surgeon, but it was obvious to all lawyers who looked at the case that a trial would result in a victory for the defense and all attempts by his lawyers to work out a deal failed; he was left with nothing more than legal bills.

* * *

CCX: Well, there you go. A somewhat agreeable solution to Case 2-2. If you're wondering what happened to the first game, well, the changes in circumstances thus far have already prevented the murders of Mia Fey (because she never started investigating White in the first place), Robert Hammond (because DL-6 never happened), and Bruce Goodman (because Gant's treachery was discovered right away). As for the other two…well, read on and you'll get an idea of what happened.

* * *

 **September 6, 2017  
8:47 PM  
Criminal Affairs Department**

"You're naming Officer Byrde as your suspect?" Mia Fey asked.

"…The evidence is pretty damning."

Mia looked at the evidence. "The evidence is pretty telling, alright—telling that this is a frame-up. That's not how Officer Byrde spells her first name, and besides that, Officer Prince is—was left-handed. I suggest looking into your witness a bit closer; we might have another Sahwit on our hands."

"Um, yes, he says he saw it."

"No, not 'saw it'; Sahwit. Frank Sahwit. You don't remember the Cindy Stone case last year? We use it as a cautionary tale about jumping to conclusions based on anonymous tips. To summarize, Sahwit was a simple thief who went door-to-door 'selling newspapers' in order to case houses. He saw a man, Larry Butz, leaving the home of his girlfriend, Stone, and entered to loot the house. While he was there, Stone returned home, and Sahwit picked up the nearest heavy object—" her hand inevitably went to the statue-clock on her own desk, "—and bashed her over the head with it, killing her. Then he called in a tip trying to implicate Butz. Sahwit was such a bad liar that Raymond Shields managed to get Butz a not guilty verdict with just four pieces of evidence and without pressing a single statement. It's actually pretty comical, but it's also tragic because we can't rely on the defense attorneys to fix our mistakes. What if it had been Manfred von Karma instead of Winston Payne prosecuting that case? Von Karma would've no doubt caught the first contradiction, that the time that Sahwit claimed to have seen the murder at was actually 3 hours before the murder, and told him to leave the time out of his testimony. Butz would've been quickly convicted. …So look into this 'Richard Wellington' fellow a bit more closely."

"Yes, ma'am."

Angel Starr smirked at her partner. "I can't help but notice that you touched your clock when you mentioned the murder. How _did_ you end up with a murder weapon decorating your desk, anyway?"

"The murder weapon from that case is still in evidence, naturally, Angel. Larry Butz made precisely _two_ of these clocks; the one he gave to Cindy Stone, which Frank Sahwit used to bludgeon her to death, and the one that he kept until he suddenly needed to pay off a legal bill he couldn't afford. He gave Miles the clock instead, but Miles thought it was tacky."

"I thought you said Shields did that case."

"He did, because Miles didn't want to. But it was Miles whom Larry went to for help, them being childhood friends."

"Heh. It sounds like you're getting _close_ with Miles Edgeworth. I have to admit, I wouldn't have even thought to try to land a boyfriend among the ranks of defense attorneys."

"It's not like that, Angel. Although there's certainly _one_ defense attorney who has made a few comments…a flirt by the name of Diego Armando. I'm not interested, though. Besides, I prefer tea. …But back on topic, I'll admit that I find Miles Edgeworth to be a kindred soul, interested in finding the truth and putting the real criminal to justice. But a lot of that info I found out through other channels. My first encounter with Miles was at my cousin Dahlia's trial; he took on the case as a favor to _another_ childhood friend, Phoenix Wright, who had been dating my cousin Iris."

"Had been? They split up?"

"Just the opposite. They're engaged. So Phoenix will be marrying into the Fey clan soon, probably sometime next year."

"I don't suppose you'd regift them that clock."

"Hey, I like the clock. It's got character."

"It feels like you're just tempting fate, having that thing on your desk."

* * *

 **September 7, 2017  
10:40 AM  
Criminal Affairs Department**

"It's no good. We can't make enough of a case to charge Wellington. There's no apparent motive, nor has he said anything incriminating."

"…I've got an idea. I don't like it, but I think we can make this work." Mia Fey dialed a number. "Lana? There's going to be a case coming in, the murder of one of our officers."

"You want me to make sure von Karma tries it?" Lana asked.

"Just the opposite. The evidence against the current suspect is extremely suspicious and seems to point to a frame-up, and I'm thinking it's a repeat of the Stone case, but we can't prove anything. I was hoping you could assign Payne to this case and we'll catch the real culprit on the witness stand."

"…I take it you didn't take the witness's statement yourself."

"I'm a sergeant now. I can't go answering every little call."

"A police officer was murdered. That's hardly 'little'."

"I know, I know. Can you do it?"

"…I don't like that you're basically asking me to set one of my prosecutors up for failure."

"Believe me, I don't like this, either. I became a detective because I didn't want to see anyone else accused of crimes they didn't commit. And yet, this will be the third time in roughly a year."

"Assuming that it is a frame-up. Don't get too bent out of shape; sometimes criminals do a really good job of framing others. If this evidence is as suspicious as you say it is, though, von Karma probably wouldn't even take the case. He puts such pride in his unbeaten streak that he'll turn down a case that he thinks there's even the slightest chance he'll lose."

"I thought that prideful old man didn't think there _was_ a case that he could lose."

"…How certain are you that the tipster is the true culprit?"

"…What are you thinking?"

"That if there's any holes in the case, Manfred von Karma could plug them. After all, if a defense attorney could prove your suspect guilty as a witness, then certainly von Karma could do so when he's actually been charged."

"That…would save time. Let me just go interrogate Maggey."

She came back a few minutes later. "I think we're good. The picture seems clear now—and better yet, it seems like murder isn't this guy's first crime. We found a cell phone at the scene, and many of the numbers in its memory could be connected to known members of a group of con artists. Officer Byrde stated that she had found a lost cell phone that day and had received a call from its owner, and had scheduled a meeting to return it; she mentioned her name during the call, which explains how he knew her name but not its unusual spelling. She confirmed that the cell phone we found at the scene was this cell phone. Since Officer Prince was in uniform, Wellington likely panicked when he saw him, thinking that his connection to the con artist group had been discovered."

"You're going to have to continue to hold Officer Byrde, you know. If you let her go, you'll never get a chance to try her if it turns out she _is_ the guilty party."

"…Okay, then. But I'll let her know that it's just procedure and that she's no longer under any real suspicion."

"And I'll assign von Karma to make sure it sticks."

* * *

 **12:00 PM  
Prosecutors' Office**

"So you're actually moving on to a new suspect before even trying the first one you arrested? The police department is growing soft."

"That heartlessness could get you in trouble some day, Manfred. The police were obviously too quick to make an arrest; a closer examination of the evidence showed obvious signs of a frame job."

"Do tell."

Lana showed him the picture of the writing in the sand. "Using little more than this evidence and a supposed eyewitness testimony, Officer Maggey Byrde was arrested for the murder of Officer Dustin Prince. However, two things stand out as fishy about this piece of evidence. The first is that it was a well-known fact within the department that Officers Byrde and Prince were dating, and as such, he would know that Maggey spells her first name 'M-A-G-G-E-Y'; this writing was most likely done by someone who had heard the name spoken but never seen it written before."

"Hmph. A logical conclusion, as the spelling in this picture is the 'normal' spelling of the name. And the second?"

"The picture shows Officer Prince writing her name with his right hand, and tiny scratches on his right index figure corroborate that it had been used to write the name in the sand. Officer Prince is left-handed."

* * *

"So the police now believe that Officer Byrde was framed. They're still holding her just in case, right?"

Lana nodded. "Of course. They need to keep her around, since she'd be the major witness in the case against Wellington."

"Based on what you've told me…this 'Wellington' fellow was unfamiliar with both his victim and the person he was framing. What angle will I be taking?"

"Officer Byrde will testify to that. She is going to state on the record that on the day of the murder, she found a lost cell phone, and that she received a call from its owner, looking for it, and had arranged to return it at the time and place that Prince was murdered. Furthermore, she told the owner her name during that conversation. The police department ran the numbers stored in the phone's memory and found that many of them corresponded to known members of a group of con artists. As you can see from this photo of the crime…when Officer Prince met his girlfriend, he had just gotten off from work and was still in uniform."

Manfred nodded. "He saw a policeman talking to the woman who had found his phone and thought he'd been exposed. He panicked, murdered him, and framed her. Is that the theory the police are now working with?"

"It is. You can make it stick, I take it?"

"But of course. As for whatever cop made the hasty arrest of Officer Byrde…he or she should get a hefty pay cut."

* * *

CCX: Well, that…wasn't originally the direction I was going to take it, but that's the beauty of _not_ always writing the chapters in one sitting. I'll skip the actual trial since that means having to decide on a defense lawyer to take the loss. Also, we've got more to cover in this chapter.

* * *

 **March 10, 2018  
4:47 PM  
Edgeworth Law Offices**

"So I just received an invitation to be one of Will Powers' guests at this year's Hero of Heroes Grand Prix, and to bring along up to two guests. I told him that it really wasn't necessary, but he insisted on continuing to thank me for defending him last year."

"Well, it's not really something we'd be interested in," his father said. "Maybe Phoenix and Larry?"

"No, it's not really their thing either, I don't think. Not to mention I really don't want to bring Larry anywhere that fancy."

"What about that detective you've been getting close to?" Raymond suggested.

Miles stiffened. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do!" Raymond teased him. "You've collaborated on an awful lot of cases, and you gave her that clock Larry gave you to thank us for defending him."

"I wouldn't be surprised if she's given it to someone else," Miles said. "It's tacky. Anyway, my relationship with Sergeant Fey is purely professional; this doesn't seem like something _she'd_ be interested in, either; and she was the one who arrested Powers in the first place!"

"It can't hurt to ask, right?"

"…I'm not asking her to this event."

* * *

 **March 20, 2018  
2:00 PM  
Kurain Village**

"I can't believe you got us tickets to the Hero of Heroes Grand Prix! VIP tickets, even!" Maya Fey was overjoyed.

"I'm surprised Miles asked me. I know _he_ got tickets from Mr. Powers as thanks for defending him on his murder charge last year, but I was the arresting officer in that case! I can't imagine he'd be happy to see me." Maya went quiet. "Hey, don't be like that. Miles proved Mr. Powers innocent, after all. And the evidence really did point to him."

"Y-yeah…still, I'm jealous that you got to meet the actor who plays the Steel Samurai and the Purple Prince."

"Well, you'll get to meet him tonight. Just…don't be too alarmed by his real appearance. There's a reason all of his roles require him to be in costume."

"What's Mr. Edgeworth like?" Maya asked.

"He's…very determined to find the truth. Even if it means his client gets a guilty verdict. He's quite brilliant, and he puts on a veneer of cool at all times…but he's actually surprisingly easy to fluster." Mia giggled. "I felt kind of bad for him during the Powers case, actually. There was this one witness, an elderly security guard at Global Studios, that was flirting with him like crazy. I've never seen him lose his composure like that."

"Is he your special someone?" asked another, smaller voice.

Mia blushed. "N-no, Pearly, he's not my 'special someone'! …But even so, you'll get to meet him in June. He's been friends with Mr. Wright since they were about your age, so he'll definitely be at Iris's wedding."

"Ah…Mr. Nick is so cool!" Thoughts of the romance between her half-sister and Phoenix Wright were enough to get the girl to drop the idea of shipping her cousin with Miles Edgeworth.

Maya laughed. "Poor Pearly. She's so consumed with the idea of a storybook romance. …But still, Mr. Edgeworth sounds even cooler than Mr. Wright. He kind of sounds like the Purple Prince."

"…Truth be told? It was during the investigation into Jack Hammer's death that Sal Manella was inspired to create the Purple Prince. Miles _is_ the 'real Purple Prince', in a manner of speaking; he inspired the character."

"Really?! THAT IS SO COOL!"

* * *

CCX: And now you've got a pretty good idea of everything that happened during the timeframe of the first game. Since Maya wasn't around to inspire the Pink Princess, that character doesn't exist in this universe, but was instead replaced by the Purple Prince, who is, well…very much like Edgeworth in demeanor.

As for what happens next? Well, that is a matter for another chapter…or 3 or 4. This is Cyberchao X, signing off.


End file.
